A Fool's Fall From Grace
by 2Legit4You
Summary: Diana is refined and erudite, the complete opposite of Akko. In this time of change, where magic is slowly returning both to the world and Akko, people's hearts begin to change too. This is the story of a girl and a fool, an unlikely pair of Witches, in the uncanny Luna Nova Academy whose worlds slowly become intertwined.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

 **The Queen of Fools**

" _I want to be a fool like you."_

A singe lapse in concentration was all it took for this merry thought to enter Diana's head and bounce around like a jackelope. Sighing, Diana shut close the tome she had occupied herself with for the morning, mindful of its aged circumstance. She took a moment to recollect her thoughts, attempting in vain to recall the last few pages she had read.

"Nothing," she breathed.

Brushing a wavy strand of hair from her vision, Diana raised herself and exited her small recluse which was tucked comfortably into the corner of her dorm room. It would be a fruitless endeavour to continue studying in her current state of mind, not to mention woefully inefficient. _Well it is necessary for one to rest,_ the young Witch mused. The studious Witch had been up since the early morning and foregone breakfast in favour of touching up on ancient magic scripts.

Surveying her lavish room she recalled what the rooms for most of the other Witches in the academy looked like. They were small, rustic with old and creaking wooden furniture, the bedsheets were a dull white and the floors and walls were splintered.

 _I truly am more comfortable in luxury like this,_ the Cavendish heiress affirmed for herself. After all it's what she'd grown up living like, for a prestigious family like hers - one descended of Bellatrix of the Nine Olde Witches - the scenery around her was nothing more than commonplace. Through the shameless acts of her aunt however, the Cavendish were experiencing a rather unsightly fall from grace.

Yes, the Cavendish name would soon perish. As such it was her duty to do all within her power to keep that from happening. She was talented, studious and a hard worker. If anybody could do it, it was her. If she excelled here at Luna Nova, if she used the Academies resources to her advantage, learned all she could and played her cards right, as head of the Cavendish house, she could restore it all.

That was her duty.

Though if Diana had one gripe about her room at Luna Nova, it would be that she would never enjoy the constant company of a certain talentless Witch.

"Honestly, what am I thinking?" She quickly berated herself. "If I wish to continue living my current life of luxury, I must forego others."

Diana's time at Luna Nova was only a result of her own selfish indulgence after all. After these few years here, she would have to fully throw herself into magic, and more importantly the voracious world of Witch politics. As such she would enjoy her time here at Luna Nova to her fullest, however there are some luxuries she must forbid herself of, lest they distract her from her mission. Luxuries such as being a fool.

 _An idiot more-like._

A commotion outside her window caught Diana's attention. Her light blue eyes flickered and outside she saw a certain group of witches frolicking about.

What drew her attention were the actions of the orange-haired tomboy, Amanda, who had taken to the skies on her broom. Her brash personality and blatant disregard for rules left much to be desired, however her physical prowess and skills with a broom were noteworthy and Diana admitted that the tomboy possessed a certain wild charm to her.

In direct pursuit of Amanda was the small statured and serious German genius.

 _In terms of raw mechanical talent, Constanze is miles above the rest of us._ Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank Albrechtsberger was a genius of her craft. Whilst her performance in other magic subjects was middling at best, in the manufacturing and construction of magic devices not even Diana could compare. Her participation in the Wild Hunt was proof of just how widely regarded her talent was within the Academy. She was a Witch that would undoubtedly rise to great heights.

Riding along at a more leisurely pace and snacking on a freshly opened bag of crisps was Jasminka. She was… uh well… she was good at all things food related. Yes!

"If these three are all on their brooms, then does that mean…" Poking her head out Diana scanned the skies until she laid eyes on the academies most infamous trio. "Well, what else did I expect from her?"

Dragging people along into her mischief was one of the girl's greatest abilities after all.

"Come on Akko! You can do it! I know you can, just concentrate." The bespectacled fairy Witch, Lotte, spoke words of encouragement to her dear friend, flying a small ways above Akko, worry etched into her brow.

"I am concentrating! What does it look like I'm do- Woah!"

"If you can barely keep control of the broom in the air how do you expect to ever beat Diana?" Egged the mushroom loving Witch, Sucy, "though watching you struggle like this is pretty interesting."

"Sucy!"

"Ah sorry, Lotte. Though Akko's idiocy truly is fascinating. It's been over three months now and she can only barely stay afloat. Truly Akko, you are a legend of a Witch."

"Shut up, Sucy! And what does Diana have to do with any of this anyway? Just you watch soon I'm going to have her smug face kissing my shoes in defeat! She's going to –Ah! Pretty soon she- Uh! I'll…have…her…"

"What will you have me doing exactly, Akko?"

"Eh!" Shocked by Diana's interjection, the legend of a Witch, Kagari Atsuko, was left dangling upside down on her broom motionless. Floating a couple of metres away the beads of sweat on Akko's forehead reflected Diana's menacing leer.

"D-Diana what a pleasant morning it is today isn't it? Oh ho ho ho!"

"Akko, your hat."

"Wha-" Akko's hat which Diana had noticed precariously slipping off, lost all traction and departed from Akko's thick skull. Desperately Akko flailed around in midair attempting to grab hold of it. With a mighty shout she succeeded in capturing the fleeing article after several seconds of hurried grabbing.

"A-Akko… your broom…"

"Eh." With cartoonish likeness Akko looked down at the drop below, then back up to Diana, she looked around for the broom she'd departed from during her battle with her hat, and upon finding it an arms-length away, promptly began her descent to the ground.

When Diana emerged outside Akko was encircled by Lotte and Sucy, rubbing her backside with both hands. Noticing the damage Akko had dealt to her saviour, the flower patch, Diana sighed. Still, at least Akko was fine.

"A-Akko! Are you okay? You shouldn't have done something so careless!" Lotte berated her friend, before rushing to check for any injuries.

"Well it's to be expected of you, Akko. Those poor flowers though. You have my thanks friends for saving the life of the legendary witch Akko." Sucy, as always, found the situation amusing and enjoyed herself by teasing Akko.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Jeez that smarts. Well at least everything is okay now!" Responded Akko with a wide, stupid grin. Only Akko could smile like that in a situation like this thought everyone present.

"Everything is most certainly not okay." Diana spoke, her serious gaze concentrated on Akko. Unable to hold the intensity of Diana's stare, the brunette Witch looked away and into the sky. "You've ruined the flowerbed, just who do you think planted and cared for those?"

"W-well I imagine it was the staff here and…"

"Well you're mistaken. It can't be helped." Diana whisked out her wand and aimed it at the flattened flora. "Mia Etelyusa!" Magical blue light emanated from the tip of her wand before shooting out towards their target. The plants shook, glowed blue and then began to posture themselves as if nothing had ever happened. Satisfied with her work, Diana turned to Akko who winced. "Your hand."

The injured party looked at Diana dumbstruck before realizing. "Oh! My hand, it's bleeding." Lotte and Sucy simultaneously shook their heads. The blonde witch gestured for Akko's bleeding palm. After a moment's hesitation Akko relented, and stretched her hand out. With a tenderness that surprised, Diana cupped the oriental Witches soft hand in her own. Annoyed at herself for the slight blush which painted her cheeks.

She cast a similar spell as before and held Akko's hand as it became awash in blue light. Akko oohed and awed at the slightly warm, slightly tingly feeling in her hand and watched as her cut healed.

"As expected of Diana," remarked Sucy with an approving nod at the heiress's work.

"Woah! That's incredible, Diana!" Exclaimed Akko, now trembling in excitement.

"Not really, healing magic is one of the Cavendish's specialties. This much is expected from me," replied Diana coolly, a subtle smile in her eyes.

"Still! Wow! Who knew magic could be so useful!"

"Akko…" sighed Lotte, exasperated. It was cute how even after all this time Akko constantly found new thing's to be excited about when it came to magic. After about a minute of Akko shooting off nonsense, Lotte and Sucy glanced at each other, both noticing that, curiously enough, Diana had not yet released her patient's hand.

"Oh, that reminds me!" began Sucy, "There's a new mushroom I wanted to collect. Strangely enough it only appears at around noon when one is accompanied by a freckled wearer of spectacles!"

"Eh? What's that? That sounds like a weird mushroom, I want to see it let's go!"

"No can do," interrupted Sucy, "this mushroom is way on the other side of the Academy grounds and if I want to reach it by noon I can't have your slow flying stopping me."

"Then just take me with you on your broom!"

"No can do, you've gained weight Akko, you're too heavy now."

"Gah!" Shocked, at this statement all the power drained from her body and Akko fell to her knees.

"I-It's okay Akko," reassured Lotte moving to pat her friends back. "Sucy's just teasing you, you're not too heavy. It's just that… you know we've been flying all morning so we're both tired! Yeah! So with that said, we can't really afford an extra passenger and yeah so, goodbye! See you later!" Lotte hopped onto her broom and waved goodbye.

Following suit, Sucy ascended as well, with a malicious grin plastered on her face. "Bye bye! Take care of Akko please, Diana!"

Watching the two disappear over the academy, Diana paled. _They're so obvious!_ She screamed mentally.

"Ahh, I really wanted to see that weird mushroom…"

 _And she's so oblivious!_

Recomposing herself, Diana offered her helping hand to the crestfallen Akko. "Seriously, Akko, you need to improve your flying skills. I was amazed the first time you flew, but to think that it's been three months and you still can barely fly…"

That's right. Atsuko Kagari, affectionately called Akko by many, the legendary Witch who was chosen by the Claimh Solais, recited and unlocked the Seven Words and used the ultimate world reconstruction magic Grand Triskelion, was ultimately, a fool.

 _Yet still, she's a fool I admire._

"I've been practicing every day! I just can't seem to get the hang of it!" Akko wailed in desperation. "It took me weeks just to learn how to use metamorphosis magic correctly, ahh, maybe I really am an idiot."

"That may be, but that's never stopped you before has it." Diana spent a moment contemplating her next words, picking out twigs and sundry from Akko's hair. "You can do anything, Akko. A believing heart is your magic, right?"

"Diana…"

Lotte had her fairy magic, Sucy her love and knowledge of poisons. Diana recognized that everyone in the Academy had their own unique skill, everyone she'd thought, except Akko. Now however, Diana believed that Akko could change the world of magic. Truthfully she already had, ever since Akko had used Grand Triskelion, magic had been returning to the world. She doubted Akko could feel it, but Diana had already noticed how the air outside of the Academy already felt more powerful. Even the Headmistress and teachers had been speaking about such matters in hushed, yet enthusiastic tones. Magic was slowly returning to the world, and it was all thanks to Akko.

 _Not that she'll ever realise it._ Akko never aimed to restore magic to the world like Diana had, like even Croix had. No, she, like Chariot, just wanted to make a world where everyone could smile and be happy. Diana had heard her wish, and it was this simplicity in Akko, that Diana had come to find, so irresistibly… charming.

"You know, Diana. Lately you've been smiling a lot more lately," said the aforementioned Witch with a goofy smile.

"Have I? I guess I just like that the Academy is going back to the way it was, before Croix's little revolution as it were. Everything's calmer now, less tense. I find it much easier to focus on my studies than before."

"Hmm…" Akko remarked, a little unsatisfied at the studious answer. "Still, you've been having more fun too right? Oh, now that I think about it did you plant those flowers?"

"I did."

"And, did you have fun doing it?"

"I will admit, I ended up enjoying the respite caring for those flowers offered me far more than I expected. It truly is a rewarding experience."

"Then that makes me happy, that you're happy!" Akko beamed and Diana was left stunned for a moment. _Happy? I guess… I am… I am happy._ "You know, Diana, back when I was at your manor, your maid umm… Anna was it? Well, back then she said you were kind, just like your mother."

"Anna did?"

"Yeah, and to be honest back then I thought she was going senile. You, kind? As far as I was concerned you were the meanest, grumpiest and most obnoxious person at the Academy!"

"Who was obnoxious now?" Diana asked, twitching.

"Ah! But that was back then, you know! Now…now I think I see what she was saying. Helping heal me today, hearing you've been caring for these flowers. And back when I was upset over Chariot and losing my magic, you helped look for me and the words you said back then. About you, and about me…They really helped me you know. So I'm only going to say this once, but… thank you. You really are kind. What was the motto of Cavendish? Affection? I think I…I see that now."

Diana was left speechless at Akko's admission. To hear Akko's word of appreciation lifted her spirits and left her heart aflutter.

"But don't let this all go to your head alright! I'll admit for the time being you may be better than me in magic and not as stuck up as you appear! But as your rival, one day I will beat you!"

 _Ahh, Akko._

"Hmph, I still don't recall me ever saying I ever thought of us as rivals. We're on completely different levels, you and I. Although, perhaps with a little of my tutoring you might make it there one day."

Visibly irritated, the talentless Witch stomped her foot on the ground. "You! It won't be like this forever, okay? Ms Ursula, or is it Chariot now? Uh, anyway she's been giving me private lessons so when the final exams roll around we'll see who's laughing then." Akko raised her shoulders and looked down her nose with false bravado.

"Of course, of course. Make sure not to flush your teacher down the sink this time alright?"

"Wha- who told you!? It was Sucy wasn't it. Ahh, darn you Sucy." It was then, that Diana giggled. Akko thought the sound was nice, and laughed a little too. Before either of them knew it, all the tension in the air dissipated as they both chuckled at the other.

"Really, Akko. You're one of a kind. I think I see why Sucy enjoys teasing you so much." Puffing her cheeks, Akko glared disdainfully at Diana. "Still, more than rivals, I'd like it if the two of us were…were…"

"Friends? I mean I guess your friend can be your rival. And I'd say that we qualify. So sure! We can be rival friends!"

Diana paused, looking for a long moment at Akko's bashful, yet sincere smile. _Were what?_ Without thinking why, the blonde Witch raised her hand, resting it fondly on Akko's cheek. The shorter Witch jumped slightly at the contact, cheeks flushed crimson. Looking down on Akko's embarrassed face, Diana felt her heart twinge.

 _She's too cute._

The heiress felt her heart beat faster, harder. The distance between them shrunk, smaller, closer. . Her big goofy eyes, silly brown hair, sweet lovely smile. _All of it_. The warmth of Akko's breath, the allure of her scent, the pinkness of her lips. _All of her_. Right now it all seemed so intoxicating. The heiress wondered if a spell had been cast on her.

"Diana."

Like falling awake, Diana was wrenched back to reality. She was hotter than she remembered being.

"Ahh, sorry. I noticed there was still something in your hair." She lied smoothly, removing the imaginary leaf.

"Oh, thank you." Akko responded softly, still blushing.

Diana stepped back, placing distance between them again. _That was close, I can't let myself lose it like that again. Come on! Control yourself Diana Cavendish!_ Whilst Diana was mentally chiding herself she noticed Akko's hat still lying on the ground. She grabbed it.

"Why were you wearing this again?" Asked Diana, "You're only meant to wear this on formal occasions."

"Well you know how it is! I just thought that when it comes to Witches there are two very important things! Riding on brooms and their pointy hats! So I thought it was natural to wear this while learning how to fly." Akko declared confidently, seizing her hat and placing it atop her head with a smirk.

Diana chuckled, "Honestly, you have such a childish image of what Witches are still. Honestly sometimes you're just too cu-"

"Cu?" Akko tilted her head quizzically at the unfinished word.

 _Crap!_

"Cu… uh I mean coincidentally I have something to give you."

"You do? Oh, what is it? What? What?"

 _Damn, you're too flustered Diana._ Truthfully, Diana did have something for the other Witch. Though since receiving it she'd internally struggled as to whether or not she'd actually deliver the item. It was a letter, and as far as she was concerned it was not her duty to act as a courier service. She could have left the letter undelivered and no-one would have known better.

Or at least, that's what she'd reasoned for herself. More than anything, she just didn't want these two people to be alone together.

'Here," she handed Akko the letter. "It's from Andrew."

The moment Diana saw Akko's eyes spark up, her irritation flared.

"Andrew!? Again? What could it be this time?" Diana shrugged, feigning disinterest.

"Whatever it is, it's not my concern. I was asked to deliver the letter and that I have done. A message from me to him, next time you see him tell him I have no further interest in being his pack mule."

"Ah, right! Sorry for making you do this, Diana."

 _No, why are you apologising. That's not what I meant._ Diana bit her lip, frustrated. Her gaze flickered to Akko who was holding the envelope up to the sun. The heiress sighed again, the source of her dissatisfaction not entirely clear to herself. Slithering into her mind again was that thought, creeping and rooting itself in areas it didn't belong like a snake from her aunt Darryl.

Gaze filled with foggy emotions, Diana took in the sight of Akko, thinking again,

 _I want to be a fool like you._

 **A/N:** **Watching Little Witch Academia was a rewarding experience and an inspiring one! Ever since the first OVA during the 2013 Young Animator Training Expo I was hooked! I am of the opinion that the second half of the anime suffered from a couple…well… Croix-related issues but Diana's arc was amazing so I'll let it slide. I do hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story, please share your thoughts and expect more soon.**

 **PS: 2013 huh? It's been four years since then and about the same amount of time since I wrote my last full length story. A lot has changed since then both in the world and my writing. Let's see what the future holds.**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2:**

 **Worrisome Fool**

"What! He wants to meet up at noon!?"

The letter Akko was clutching was signed off in impeccable strokes with the name, Andrew Hanbridge. He'd requested to meet her again in the nearby city of Blightonbury, and just like last time he'd made an almost impossible request of her. _Sure I'm a Witch and I have magic and magic is incredible and can do awesome things and I'm an amazing Witch all round and this is nothing for me but just because you're always so busy doesn't mean you have the right to spring these thigs up on me in such short notice! Ahh! Andrew you don't get Witches at all do you? Have you ever considered that I might be busy too?_

Finishing off her mental rant Akko frantically searched for some tell of the time. Looking up she noticed the sun, whose blazing radiance sat almost directly overhead. Noticing this fact despair began to wash over Akko, with her current broom riding skills she knew there was no chance she'd reach Blightonbury in time, or even within the hour.

"Where's the legendary broom when you need it? LEGENDARY BROOM! I NEED YOU!" Wincing at Akko's roaring, Diana had already guessed the contents of the letter she was tasked to deliver. Watching Akko fret over its contents ticked her off, and the brunette fool's yelling was a catalyst to her irritable eruption.

"Akko! You must stop yelling! You are being a nuisance!"

Stopping her yelling Akko turned to the young heiress. "But I'll never make it in time. Ah! That's right I could ask Lotte for a lift again!" Impressed at herself for her brilliant idea Akko postured towards the sky, cupping her hand over her mouth like a megaphone. "LOTTE! SUCY! I NEED YOU! LOTTE!"

Her composure now visibly shaken, Diana's single string of restraint snapped. "AKKO!"

"Geh!" Exclaimed the noisy Witch, feeling daggers boring into her back. Turning around she winced at Diana's fuming glare. Unsure what to do, all Akko could do was smile apologetically. In response, the irate Diana immediately softened, her rigidity dissipating at Akko's gesture.

"I will give you a lift, if you so desire, Akko." Offered Diana, casting a small summoning spell. Akko observed as the window of Diana's room opened and a broom came rocketing out, positioning itself neatly in the heiress's grasp.

"Eh? Are you sure? Didn't you say you weren't a courier service earlier?" Asked Akko, finger positioned atop her lip wonderingly.

"That was for Andrew! This is you!"

"So it's okay if it's me then?" Flustered at Akko's response, Diana grit her teeth, scowling.

"This and that are beside the point," coughed Diana, repositioning herself. "I have my own business at Blightonbury to attend to, as such it wouldn't be too much of a bother to help you out of your current predicament. After all, I am partly responsible for delivering the letter to you so belatedly. Well, stop looking at me with such a stupid face. Let's be on then."

"S-sure!"

* * *

 _She smells so nice!_

Yes, as much as she hated to admit it. With her arms wrapped around the Cavendish Witch, their bodies pressed tightly together as they flew along the Leyline at high speed. Akko couldn't help but notice the subtly sweet fragrance of the broom's rider.

 _And her hair's so soft too._

Diana's platinum blonde curls tickled at Akko's nose and ears. Their radiance was difficult to ignore. Trying not to mentally praise the beautiful Witch's features anymore, Akko attempted to busy herself observing their ever shifting surroundings. It was at this moment she wondered just why the Leyline's interior was vaguely like a warp hole in appearance. _Like a Sci-Fi film. I wonder why? Diana probably knows._

"Hey, Diana." Called Akko intending to ask her question.

"Hm." Diana turned her head slightly, expression serious and regal, eyes curved and piercing. She gave off a vague impression of some mythical succubus-like creature.

 _S-so sexy._

"Uh, no… never mind." Not letting a single moment go to waste, Akko proceeded to bury her face in her hat in a desperate attempt to hide her blush. A small part of her even hoped that the hat would help to shield her thoughts from any mind reading capabilities Diana might possess.

Burrowed in her hat, like an ostrich in its hole in the ground, the blushing Witch questioned her sanity. _This is all Diana's fault! If it wasn't for that moment when she was getting that stuff out of my hair._ _I must have been so uncool too._ As much as she attempted to cast her thoughts into the abyss beside her, try as she might Akko's mind conjured up those earlier memories unbidden.

The shocking cold of Diana's hand at first-contact, followed by a surge of invasive warmth. The shrinking distance between them and the assault on her senses as Diana's fragrance washed over her then as it does now. Fear mingled with excitement.

 _Oh jeez! What am I thinking!? She probably only smells so nice because she's using some rich-girls fancy detergent! I bet her shampoo's super expensive too! One of those premium salon-quality brand name miracle solutions. I mean just look at her room! Everything she owns is probably of that quality! So OF COURSE I think she smells super nice. Anybody would!_

"-ko."

 _As for her softness, I mean she's a girl. All girls are soft. Speaking of which I've never seen her run or do any cardio. I bet she's got fat! Huh, no wonder._

"-we're here."

 _Don't be so full of yourself, Diana! I bet if we took away all your fancy beauty products and stripped you bare you'd be the same as the rest of us! Hah! …though… stripped… bare…_

"Akko!"

"Ah! What am I thinking?!" Wrought back to reality, Akko experienced an all too familiar sensation of inertia. The world around her seemed to shoot below her, as gravel was replaced by Diana, then Diana by the trees and finally she had her eyes set on the sky with an ungracious thud.

Observing Akko's dishevelled appearance, who was strewn about the floor cradling her head in pain, Diana was grateful there weren't others around to see this disgraceful image. She offered her hand in assistance to Akko, who spent a few moments of looking at it, before seeing it in her own.

"Thanks," the clumsy Witch said under her breath, avoiding eye contact.

"You really must stop spacing out like that, it is unbefitting of a Witch to lose her concentration so often. Not to mention falling off a stationary broom." Despite her harsh words, Diana was pleased to notice there weren't any extra injuries on Akko.

"Yeah, yeah." Akko pouted, upset at her seemingly innate ability to be as uncool as possible. That's when she noticed the sun, directly overhead. "Ah! I'm still going to be late! Come on, Diana we need to fly!"

"I know you're actually awake in classes, Akko. If so then how could you forget that we can't use flying magic outside of the Sorcerer Stone's range? I've taken us as far as we can go, but we'll have to walk the rest of the way. Unfortunately free flight around the world is not yet possible."

"Not yet? So it will be!?"

Exasperated, Diana sighed. "I'll explain it to you later. For now we better get moving. It seems Andrew will have to wait for you, for a little bit."

With those words spoken, Diana took off, following the road towards Blightonbury. In pursuit of her was Akko, only a few steps behind. "Knowing how busy he is, he might just leave in five minutes."

"If it truly is a matter of import, he will wait. It might serve to humble him to do so."

"True that! He could definitely benefit from being served a giant slice of humble pie, like a certain other blonde Witch I know."

"Someone has been full of cheek today," spoke Diana, slowing down to walk side-by-side the current target of her irritation.

"Well, if the shoe fits," Akko responded, raising her shoulders in a smug fashion. With an irritating leer she continued to egg on the solemn heiress.

"Why, may I ask do you feel that I must be more humble? Am I arrogant?"

"Are you arrogant!? Well is the sky blue? Is magic awesome?"

"So it seems to you I most certainly am arrogant. May I ask for an example?"

"An example? Well… there's the way you speak for one. All hoity-toity-like all the time! And you always have your nose up to people when you do it!"

"So allow me to confirm something," began Diana, an evil spark in her blue eyes. "Because I am well-spoken and mindful of what I say, unlike a certain other brunette Witch I know, and because I strive to maintain proper posture, also unlike a certain other Witch I know, I'm arrogant am I? Are you sure you're just not feeling jealous? Envy truly is such a distortive sin."

"Th-that's not it, okay! I don't mean the way you talk, but more the way you talk to people! You're always so condescending, just like you were with me a second ago!"

"Condescending?" The erudite Diana, truly seemed confused by this admission.

 _Seriously? Does she really not realise it? Just how horrid is she! And to think I said all those nice things to her today._

"Yes, condescending! Like the way you always correct everyone's magic. Always chastising the other students."

Taking a moment, the accused Witch took a moment to seriously consider Akko's words. "It seems you misunderstand my intentions, Akko. I promise you, when I help other students. It is not out of malice, but rather frustration. I truly love magic, and I wish to see it successful in the hands of all. I want everyone to use magic to the best of their abilities. If it seems I'm only doing so for self-gratification, then I must consider the possibility that I must be making my intentions unclear somewhere. I would have never considered this self-reflection if you hadn't brought this to my attention Akko, thank you."

Rather than pleased at Diana's saintly answer, Akko's own irritation and frustration only grew. "Ahh! Why do you have to be so perfect!?" Akko roared, pulling on the ends of her hat and grinding her teeth. The perfect Witch in question only shook her head at Akko's outburst. Try as she might, Diana would never understand what went through the suffering girls mind.

"Diana! What kind of shampoo do you use?"

"Eh? Shampoo?" Thrown off by the odd question, Diana wondered just what was going though Akko's head. "I suppose just the usual. I don't quite remember the label though, I don't pay attention to those sorts of things."

"Grr, fine! Well what about exercise! Do you jog or anything?"

"Hmm, unfortunately no," Akko's face lit up. "Though I do partake in equestrian. Riding and caring for horses is also another one of my few enjoyed reliefs." Akko's face fell.

"GRR! How about fat! Do you have any body fat you're ashamed of? Any rolls you've been hiding?"

"Wha-" The platinum Witch's face lit up at the question. "I-I'm not answering that! What a shameless question!"

"So you are! Come here, Diana!" Akko lunged at the flawless Witch, intent on finding the illusive rolls.

"No! Akko, stop!" Diana struggled against the desperate Witch, but was unable to simultaneously overpower Akko, whilst defending her stomach. "No, please! Akko, s-stop. A-aah!"

All movement stopped. Both stared at the other, still like statues as if petrified by a gorgons gaze. Amidst this awkward silence, one tactless Witch attempted to dispel the curse gripping them both.

"W-wow… that was a really girly noise you just made. K-kinda unexpected." _And so cute! Ah, Diana! You're too perfect!_

"Sh-shut up!" Yelled Diana, furiously embarrassed. Ashamed at her uncharacteristic outburst.

That was when a hoarse cough penetrated the air, and upon noticing the unknown intruder, both Witches proceeded to hastily remove themselves from the other. The intruder upon the moment, Andrew Hanbridge, spoke up. "Well, that is an uncommon sight. I didn't ever expect that of you, Diana."

Before Diana had a chance to respond, Akko shot in. "Andrew! Why are you here? This isn't where we were supposed to meet." They had only just entered Blightonbury and were standing three blocks away from the proposed meeting place.

"My apologies, Miss Kagari. You were late, and knowing the nature of you, I suspected you might be caught up in some trouble. So I went looking for you, this is the entrance nearest to Luna Nova, and thus I was on my way there to find you. I'm glad to see for once, that there is no trouble. Though I wasn't expecting Diana."

Diana became suddenly grim, all trace of humour erased from her bearing. She glanced once at Akko, then at Andrew. "You need not concern yourself with my presence Andrew, I was merely accompanying Akko. Whatever business you need her for, I would not be so tactless as to intrude upon."

"Diana…" breathed Akko, uncertain of the heiress' sudden change of disposition.

"Well, I have my own business to attend to. When you are finished, Akko. I will be at the magical tool shop." With that curt farewell, the sombre Witch departed.

Andrew and Akko were left in stunned silence. Andrew shook his head, curious. "It seems I have done something to upset Diana. Could it be she's annoyed at my use of her to contact you?"

Akko smiled bashfully, "Well I think it's a mixture of that and embarrassment. Oh, but she did tell me to tell you that she's not your pack mule!"

"As expected of Diana, well I intend to rectify her position today. If you'd please come this way, Miss Kagari."

"Oh, of course." Akko followed Andrew's gesture, proceeding deeper into the city. Wondering the whole while just why Diana was so venomous.

* * *

The place Andrew had led Akko too was a quaint café along one of Blightonbury's more renowned streets. It boasted a highly intimate ambiance, with few other guests and only two staff. At first glance unassuming, based on the extensive list of teas laden with words she could not pronounce, Akko guessed this place must be rather high-class. She glanced at her male companion who seemed so naturally fit for such a place, he almost blended in as a decoration.

"Feel free to order whatever suits your fancy, my treat." Spoke Andrew, closing his menu and locking his intense gaze on the befuddled Witch. Again Akko looked at the array of beverages before her, before settling on one she vaguely remembered Diana having mentioned once.

"Then I'll have the Darjeeling." With a nod, Andrew beckoned over the café's single waitress.

"We'll have two cups of your finest Darjeeling blend please." With a nod the waitress wrote down the order and passed it along to the brewer. Straightening his back Andrew rested his face on his crossed hands. "You need not look so wary, Miss Kagari."

"Sorry it's just that I wasn't expecting to go to a place with this kind of atmosphere. I expected you wanted to return something I'd forgotten again, or maybe chew me out for something I did."

I assure you, today I only requested your company because I wanted to thank you for all that you've done."

"Wha?" Cried Akko, face contorting into one of confusion. "Thank me? For what? This is kind of really unexpected coming from you, Andrew. Never pictured you to be the grateful sort."

"You're as frank as ever. Or is it just foolishness? With you I have a hard time distinguishing the two." Andrew chuckled, as he accepted his cup of tea from the waitress with a thanks.

 _No, somethings definitely up._ Thought Akko at Andrew's bizarre behaviour. She's gotten a pretty good impression of the type of person the next Hanbridge statesman was, while the idea that he may want to thank Akko in person for whatever she'd done was believable. The fact that he'd laugh at any jab to his character was not. Watching him closely, Akko sipped her tea.

 _Blegh! This tea tastes terrible!_

"Well despite your concerns I'm grateful nonetheless, ever since the fiasco with the missile my father has taken to my hearing my opinions on certain sensitive matters. Something I assure you would never have occurred had you not used magic to prevent what could only be called an international crisis. Your actions on that day have made waves among the political landscape, all in favour of magic, and I have been benefitting quite a lot from these changes. I feel as if now I have a clear goal to work towards to. None of which would have been possible without you."

"Aw shucks! Well I'm glad to hear it. Though it still is kind of embarrassing hearing you praise me like this." Akko rubbed the back of head bashfully.

"I'm only telling you the truth. Whilst you may appear overly reckless and stubborn at first, and your actions often lack even the slightest bit of elegance. You nonetheless continue to prove me wrong at almost every turn."

"You're not so good at this complimenting business, are ya? Captain smooth." Akko bit back at Andrew's backhanded compliments. _Why must everyone say the same things about me? Sucy and Diana are always on my case and now Andrew too._ Despaired Akko internally.

"I apologise for my rudeness, despite my words. I want you to know that I am truly grateful for all that you've done. I truly find you irresistibly fascinating. " Blood rushed to Akko's cheek as Andrew locked his gaze on her, his emerald orbs holding an unidentifiable passion.

"N-no problem," she managed to burst out, without too much of a shake in her voice.

"And with that being said, my ruse is over." The noble boy cleared his throat, taking a few moments to readjust his attire before focusing all his attention on the brunette Witch. "Miss Kagari, thanking you was, in truth, not the only reason I invited you out today."

 _Gulp._

"I must say that I'm unused to this position. I'm usually on the receiving end in these situations and now that the moment is upon me, I recognise the courage required for such a simple task is difficult to muster. Nevertheless I plan on conveying my intentions clearly as I believe when it comes to matters of the heart, one must be inelegantly blunt to avoid any misunderstandings…and so…"

 _M-matters of the heart!? What is he talking about? It couldn't be? No way! Why me? Certainly there are much better options for something like this! Like Barbara or Hannah? Though I guess he and I have bonded a lot recently, so maybe it's not so strange that I'm the one he's asking. But still! Ah, this is unbelievable._

"Andrew, stop!" Roared Akko, waving both arms wildly in front of her, preventing any chance of Andrew letting another word slip. "I-I get it, okay! I can't say I properly understand why I'm the one you'd choose, but I get it, okay!"

"So then…"

"Yes! Yes I'll do it. I'll tell Diana everything. I'll tell her all about the way you feel. Still though I've got to say I'm a little shocked. Though I guess you two would be perfect together, you're both so good looking after all. Can't say I'm the best choice for telling her though, after all we only recently became friends and she's still my rival. And-"

"Miss Kagari." Interrupted Andrew, "I believe you're misunderstanding something."

"Eh? Am I? You mean you're not here to tell me to tell Diana you like her?"

"No."

"Oh, so then…"

"I fancy you, Miss Kagari."

After a few moments the silent calm of the quaint café was shattered by the cries of a banshee.

* * *

It was a little past four in the afternoon when the polar opposite Witches had each finished their business. Neither of them had uttered a single word since their reunion and now, stuck together on Diana's broom, they followed the Leyline back to Luna Nova. They'd set a rather leisurely pace, quite the opposite to the mornings frantic scramble and so by the time they'd popped out at the Academy, the sun had already begun its descent below the horizon.

Awash in twilight rays the two Witches soaring through the air painted a rather serene image. Akko noticed their pace had fallen even lower, as the growing silhouette of Luna Nova's castle walls seemed to never approach, like a mirage ever evasive and out of reach.

"Did you enjoy yourself, Akko?" It was Diana who broke their ceasefire of speech, eyes locked forward and unwavering. _She seems mad._

"I-I guess I did. I had some Darjeeling tea! Though honestly I wasn't a fan. What can I say, I guess I prefer more down-to-earth flavours you know? None of that rich-girl tea for me!" Akko puffed out her chest in false pride, intent on egging the platinum Witch on.

"Hm. I guess so." Was the pilot's unenthusiastic reply.

"Anyway," continued Akko, trying to repair the awkward mood that had developed. "Did you find what you needed at the magic tool shop?"

"I did."

"Good!"

A nod.

 _Gahhh! What's with this mood?_ The Darjeeling-hater racked her brain for any other conversation topics, but cracked due to the pressure. Then Akko noticed that the two of them had stopped moving completely. Now they both just floated in the sky, chilly wind kissing their exposed skin. Diana's expression was impossible to read from behind, but with a violent gust of wind, the golden hair blocking her features was raised up and her sombre demeanour revealed.

"Diana, what's wrong?" Akko's quiet concern hung in the air a moment, before reaching their unmoving target.

"So, did Andrew confess to you?"

"Wha? H-how did you know! It couldn't be, can you really read minds Diana?"

"Hmph, such a skill would be incredibly distasteful to use on one's own friend, don't you think? No. It was merely an educated guess on my part. I've never seen Andrew head over heels for a girl before, but with the way he was constantly interested in you, really it was a trivial matter to connect the dots."

"So, you knew all along? That Andrew was probably going to confess to me today."

"I'd had my suspicions. Truthfully I'd hoped it wouldn't be the case, but with how demure you'd been after your little café rendezvous I surmised that was likely the only thing that could have thrown you off your feet so."

"As expected of you, Diana. You never miss anything, huh?" _Really, Diana. You're too perfect for your own good. It's so frustrating!_

"Well although it is none of my business to concern myself with your private relationships, I do hope he treats you well and in a manner befitting of you."

 _In a manner befitting of me? Wait… oh! Is that why Diana's was so mad at Andrew earlier? And why she was so serious this whole time? Don't tell me she likes Andrew!_ _Ah! And now she probably hates me! I-I have to clear this up!_

"W-woah Diana, it's not what you think, you see I, and well I turned him down, actually." There was a moment when the only sound around them was the flapping of their coats in the night wind.

"Truthfully? But why? I was under the impression most girls considered Andrew to be quite the romantic partner." Responded Diana, shocked at the turn of events.

"I mean, I guess they would. But there was no way I could see Andrew like that! He's a cool guy and all if a little too conceited for his own good, but really I can only see him as a friend, you know? So there's no need to worry! I won't be stealing him from you!" The clumsy Witch smiled obliviously, placing a hand reassuringly on Diana's shoulder.

"I do not desire Andrew in a romantic way, Akko. The two of us can hardly stand each other. I've never viewed him or any other main romantically. Ever." Diana corrected Akko, who once again seemed to misunderstand the situation.

"Really?" Now Akko was truly perturbed. "Well, if it wasn't about Andrew, why were you so upset earlier?"

"W-well, that's because I…well I…um…" The platinum Witch stuttered over herself searching for an answer to that question. The sun had completely faded now and been replaced by the moon. Yet, even in the monochrome lunar shine, the tell-tale crimson tint of Diana's cheeks was not missed by her passenger.

With a menacing grin, Akko closed in on her bashful prey. "Could it be that you were worried Andrew was going to steal me away from you, huh Diana?" The Witch in questions name was said with an uncharacteristically sultry slur. For the first time today, Akko had hit the nail on the head. And the results were immediate as Diana's blush spread to her ears and neck, an unstoppable tide of embarrassment.

"A-as if, you idiot! That's right you're an idiot! I was concerned that if your head was filled with thoughts of love the whole time that you'd be absolutely unable to advance your magic at all! It would be impossible for you!" Diana took this moment to begin flying again, wanting to end this hell of hers.

"Riiiiight," Akko leered, bringing her face to Diana's shoulder, she began speaking directly into the blushing witches strawberry ear. "You don't have to worry though, my poor little Diana~~~, your rival Akko will always be here for you, there's no need to worry~ you'll never be lonely again~"

"Sh-shut up. I told you that's not it! Idiot!"

"Oh, Diana! You're so cute~"

"I-I'll drop you!"

It was during this moment that Akko saw just why everyone enjoyed teasing her so much, if her reactions were even half as interesting as Diana's. She burrowed even closer to the platinum Witch, chuckling the whole while. She continued to goad Diana, strangely elated at the situation. Blissful at the fact that today, she and Diana had undoubtedly gotten closer. Her chest felt warm and fluffy. All the previous tension had evaporated, replaced by fuzzy laughter.

 _Today was a weird day,_ thought Akko, looking out at the starry night sky. Unconsciously she nuzzled deeper into Diana, savouring their closeness. The heiress turned and blushed even harder at Akko's dumb grin.

 _A really weird day. But fun._

Thus the two of them flew, a silhouette against the backdrop of the scarred moon, their voices whisked away by the wind, hearts growing ever closer.

 _Really fun._

* * *

 **A/N:** **Alas, amidst a barrage of misunderstandings these two awkwardly begin to grow even closer to each other.**

 **Please share your thoughts and look forward to more of these two idiots soon!**

 **Also to answer some of the reviewers questions. Update schedule for the next month or so should be pretty short. With at least one new chapter weekly. I used to believe large chapters once a month was the best option. But now I see that smaller chapters sooner is better for most people.**

 **As for the possibility of Croix and Chariot as a pairing, I've definitely considered the possibility even during my early drafting of this fic, so if I feel that a focus on those two would fit the flow of the story, it's a very real chance!**

 **Thanks again.**

 **R2Legit4You**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:  
** **A Night Like No Other**

"Come here, Diana." The voice that beckoned her was soft, adoring. It resonated in her mind, alighting a profound sense of comfort and want. She gazed unclearly at the source of this phenomenon rubbing her eyes to clear her vision. "What's the matter, pumpkin?"

"Mom."

Her mother smiled reassuringly, her blue orbs lit with devoted passion. Adorned in white, her mother was the picture of a heavenly saint. Awash in the moon's insipid light, her mother's pale skin shone radiantly. Her fading blonde hair, which she'd passed on to her daughter, refracted the white rays of her lunar companion in wondrous shifting patterns. At this moment, Diana couldn't think of anyone more befitting of the title of mother. Yes, her mother was gentle and kind towards everyone, regardless of station or upbringing. A person completely encompassing of the Cavendish motto, Affection.

"Did you have a nightmare? Mama's here for you, sweetie." The saintly woman pat the bed next to her, beckoning her beloved child. Obediently little Diana trotted towards her mother's bedside. She hesitated but upon seeing her mother's inviting smile she climbed into bed alongside her. Still, the flickering's of her young pride forbid her from appearing too pathetic, and so she straightened her back holding steadfast against her urge to smother herself in warmth. "So, what happened? Was it a scary dream?"

"No," responded Diana weakly, gripping at the bedsheets. With a light chuckle, her mother smiled knowingly and placed her hand atop her daughters own. Tenderly she began stroking Diana's hair, tracing the path of the curls, silently coaxing out more. "It's just… I got a little scared. I couldn't sleep because I was scared. Just a bit though, okay?"

"Just a bit?"

Diana nodded firmly, staring stubbornly at her mother with false bravado. Exasperated at her daughter's ornery defiance, the mother took her daughter up in her arms settling Diana atop her lap. Diana squirmed and whined for a bit before being cooed into a more amiable state. Deciding it was okay just this one time, she snuggled deeper into her mother's warm embrace. Soothed by the beating of her mother's heart she felt the heaviness of sleep approaching. "Where's Papa?" she asked.

"Your father is in Moldova right now, apparently he found a new lead on what he's been looking for." Her mind slowed by sleepiness it took a little longer than normal for all of Diana's thoughts to process. Once the gears in her mind completed their leisurely rotation she perked up in excitement.

"He did!? So he's almost found the Panacea?"

"Mmh, he says the notes I had you helped me translate were the final piece of the puzzle. Isn't that great? You tried your best and helped your father. Efforts of kindness always repay themselves, Diana. Take note of that." Silent and a little unsure Diana nodded. Her relief at the news had allayed her fears, and now with no walls to prevent it, the tide of sleep washed over her in full.

"I'm so glad mom. Soon it'll be you, me and papa. I… can't wait. I…love…you…" Cradling her darling daughter in her arms, she lulled the precocious child of hers to sleep. Smiling again, she looked at Diana's precious sleeping figure, her darling button nose, her childishly squishy cheeks and look of peaceful ignorance.

"That face is much more suitable for a child of your age. You're too clever for your own good." Reasoned the mother. With slow movements she stroked her daughter adoringly. Hugging her tighter she whispered, "I love you, Diana. I love you the most in the world."

* * *

When her muddy consciousness began to clear, Diana felt the tell-tall ache in her back that signified she'd fallen asleep on her desk, again. Stretching to alleviate the pressure from her cold and stiff muscles, Diana then proceeded to check for any damage the tome she'd been reading might have incurred from her careless departure to dreamland. Satisfied at its condition she made her way over to her bed. She struggled to drive away the dull thoughts of the dream she'd had and stared motionless at her bed. Sighing she quietly exited her room, careful not to wake her roommates.

Her feet carried her down the aged hallways of Luna Nova, body wandering the grounds whilst her mind wandered elsewhere. _Why now of all times?_ It was an unusual occurrence for Diana to dream of her mother, unusual, but still every time it happened felt like one time too many. _I absolutely despise the moods they put me in._ The dreams always left Diana feeling melancholic, wistful, as if she were merely grasping at straws in all her efforts. For hours afterwards she felt curelessly lethargic, yet sleep became unattainable.

 _I hate this._

Diana continued to wander, trying to recollect her composure. These days it had become one of her most common practices. Following the routine she'd always used she'd breathe deeply, close her eyes and focus on one thing. Focus on her image of ten years from now. Ten years from now when she'd be the greatest Witch in the world, ten years from now when her estate was restored, ten years from now when the Cavendish name would bear the might of a country. Yet this time her ritual failed to bring clarity. It felt like it would be ages until her heavy mind would lighten. Try as she might, she could not cast off the shapeless weight from her mind.

 _I hate this._

The brooding heiress paused and looked up to the stars. Finding a solemn kinship in their loneliness.

"This time I'll have it for sure! Just let me try one more time, please!"

 _Akko?_ Diana tilted her head in curiosity at the brunette Witch's loud outburst. It was then that Diana noticed her that in her aimless wandering she's walked all the way from the dorms to the classrooms. She noticed a light in a crack from one of the doorways and stealthily peeked within. There she saw Akko, waving around her wand with fierce vigour, frustration evident in every vein on her forehead.

"Listen, Akko. Its past curfew. You need to hurry on to your room and get some sleep. It's all well and good at you being motivated during your extra lessons like this, but if you exhaust yourself and can't stay awake in classes then there's really no point in the first place."

The woman who'd spoken the wise words of moderation was none other than Chariot du Nord. Possibly the world most famous, and infamous Witch. The red-haired enchantress who had enraptured the world for a time with her magic. Even someone like Diana had had no resistance to her charm. Ever since the incident with Croix had been resolved, she'd shaken off her persona of Ursula and now fully embraced the person she really was. Nowadays she wore her fiery hair proudly. The image change had shaken many, but seeing the confidence it had given her, none could doubt it was a good thing. Some younger Witches were even swooning over the transformation.

 _They're still at it at this time? Well, Akko has determination if nothing else._

"But look! I'm getting so close," Akko spun on her heels and faced a pot plant as if it were her greatest enemy. Then with unbridled fury and an aggressive flick she shouted: "Mia Etelyusa!" Blinding blue light lit up the end of her wand and began to travel in the air, before beginning to stutter and shudder. Then it unceremoniously fizzled and popped out of existence.

 _That spell!_

With a clap of her hands Chariot signalled that today's efforts were at a close. "That's all, Akko. I'm afraid I don't know the spell all that well myself so I can't help you anymore than with the pronunciation."

"Wha-? You don't!? But you're Chariot!"

"Even I have my limits, Akko. Healing magic was never one of my specialties. Especially a spell like that one, it's incredibly uncommon. Why the sudden interest anyway?" Chariot questioned her student and idoliser. For the past weeks Akko had been more intent than ever on the extra lessons, dragging them all out until her mentor was too tired to continue.

"The reasoning doesn't matter does it? Aren't you happy that I'm so keen on learning? You should be praising me more!" Fumed Akko, stomping her foot on the ground and pouting cutely. Having built up a resistance to Akko's childish behaviour Chariot just quietly agreed, beginning to usher her student out of the room.

"Sure, sure. You're incredible, Akko. Wow, so amazing."

"Say it like you mean it!"

"Still Akko, I can help you with the magic in your curriculum and perhaps with magic astronomy. But with specialised magic it's better to approach a teacher who teaches that subject. For this spell I'd recommend…. Hmm let's see, I suppose Diana would actually be a good person to consider. A spell of this type should fall in with Cavendish knowledge."

"Ask Diana? Hmph, but then it would feel like I've already lost!"

"Akko, there's a fine line between pride and foolishness. Remember that."

It was at this moment Diana realised her spying would be uncovered, she attempted to hide herself or run away but was too late. Chariot and Akko gasped in surprise when they opened the door and saw the blonde Witch standing there.

"Oh, Diana you were here?" Asked Akko, still being shoved out of the classroom.

"Ah, yes. I am sorry. Ms du Nord. I was having trouble sleeping, so I took a stroll, it seems I lost track of time. I didn't realise that curfew had passed. I apologise for this violation." Diana bowed her head, and yet even in doing so remained dignified. A little shocked at being addressed as she had been, Chariot laughed nervously.

"That's fine, Diana. If it's you I doubt you were up to any trouble. Unlike some other Witches, you don't break the rules intentionally," reassured Chariot, glancing sideways at Akko who was feigning ignorance. "Still, if you're really having trouble sleeping, I could do something to help."

"Please don't inconvenience yourself for my sake, I believe this walk was all that was required to clear my head."

"Well if you're sure," Chariot gave Diana a once-over and remained unconvinced. Still she wasn't going to prod where she was unwelcome. On the other hand, a certain other rowdy Witch seemed just as unconvinced at Diana's reply as Chariot was. Deciding that if it was Akko, then it was probably fine, Chariot bowed slightly at the blonde Witch. "Well then, Diana. I have a request to make of you. Would it be possible for you to help me out with Akko's tutoring?"

"What!?" Akko yelled incredulously, shocked at Chariot's proposal. Continuing on despite the interruption Chariot clarified.

"Not every day, once a week should be fine. It's just that lately I've been swamped with work, and I'm sure that if it were you, you might be able to help Akko in areas I've perhaps overlooked? If it's you, Diana I'm sure you'd be a big help to Akko. She'd really appreciate it." Diana considered her teachers request, it was unlike her to turn down a plea for assistance, especially one from a teacher. She'd also been meaning to correct Akko's magic form for a while. Yes, that was all. Diana had no ulterior motive.

"If it's fine with you, then I have no qualms in assisting Akko. Though I will be rather strict. Are you prepared for that, Akko?" Caught between the intense and serious stares of both Diana and Chariot, the young Witch could only relent in fear.

"S-sure, sound great." She agreed rather unsteadily. Seeming satisfied with herself Chariot smiled before patting the top of Akko's head. Diana could not help but think of how cute she looked with her cheeks puffed in irritation. "You two are totally looking down on me right now!"

Giggling at her outburst, Chariot removed her hand and glanced at the clock behind her. "You two better get moving now, curfew has long passed. Make sure to get a good night's rest you two." With her final teacher-like piece being said Chariot departed for her quarters leaving her two students to their own devices. Hoping that not too much trouble would arise. Trouble always seemed to hang over those two. They reminded her of Croix and herself back in their academy days, in more ways than one.

"Well them, we should be returning to the dorms now. Come, I will escort you to make sure you don't go wandering off and get into any trouble." Said Diana, full honour-student mode active. She took a hold of the smaller Witches hand, setting a rather brisk pace. Following – or rather being dragged – behind, many questions were flying through Akko's mind. Not least of which was… _why am I blushing?_ Fingers intertwined the two of them crossed through the courtyard, noiseless as lovers scurrying to a secret rendezvous.

Lately a weird rhythm would begin to develop in Akko's heart whenever she and Diana were alone for extended periods of time. It would go from a galloping race horse rounding the final bend in its race, to a motionless lake, frozen over by the chilly kiss of winter. It didn't reflect much in the way she acted, but it was there and frustrating. Was is the thrill of rivalry? Or the soothing calm of friendship? Akko was clueless.

"Why that spell, Akko?"

"Huh?" She sputtered, before recalling that Diana had clearly been observing the end of her lesson with Chariot. Feeling slightly embarrassed she spoke. "Well, you know. I guess it's because I saw you use it to help those plants I crushed that one time and I thought it was really amazing, and sort of cool."

"Really? And here I was thinking you'd never be interested in magic that wasn't flashy or Chariot-esque."

"I mean that magic is still the best! It's just healing magic seems like a good think to know. Especially since I'm so clumsy," Akko muttered the last part under her breath. Not wanting Diana to hear her own self depreciation. "I mean when I really thought about it I thought wow! This is incredible! With magic like this in the world, surely you could easily make millions of people smile! Healing the sick and the wounded. Performing miracles only magic can, you know?"

Diana looked at her optimistic friend seriously, her piercing blue gaze unwavering. "Magic is not as limitless as you imagine it to be, Akko. Even more so in healing magicka. It's never as simple as it appears to be, never as easy as merely casting a spell and applying a bit of magical power."

"I-I see."

"Even with the spell you tried practicing today. Your pronunciation was okay, but your magic just fizzled out didn't it? That's because you always fail to make the proper preparations, or not trying to understand the nature of what you're doing. Each spell has its own histories and set of rules that need to be followed. Like with the 'Mia Etelyusa' spell, the caster need to be aware of the nature of the target. I planted and cared for those flowers, I understood their name, type and what needed to be fixed. By lacking this knowledge, and simply casting the spell nothing will happen."

"So that's what it was."

"Exactly. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm lecturing but maybe growing up in a world devoid of magic, and your only prior experience with it being from Chariot's shows… I was beginning to wonder if maybe you just had a warped understanding of the nature of magic. One that was not naturally cultivated as you grew up like us other Witches. You think there's only two ingredients in every spell, the magic and the words. What you lack, Akko. Is preparation and understanding."

"So you're saying that if I follow the necessary steps, and read up on a bunch of things, I should be able to have an easier time learning spells?"

"More or less. Most spells do allow for some degree of error of course. Customisation is a bigger part of magic than you might think. You could just hit every spell with tenacity, as you did the metamorphosis magic, but I've always believed one should work smart and not hard."

"I see… somehow though that sounds like a lot more work in some ways," moaned Akko despondently. However, she began to see a little of just why everyone was so reliant on Diana. Smiling Akko squeezed her companion's slender hand. "So as long as I keep working at it, then eventually no illness will be able to stand in my way! Is that why Witches live for so long? DO they just keep healing themselves forever?"

"That's not the cause no. Healing magic especially has its limitations. Small scratches like yours from the other day are easily fixed. But larger wounds are much harder to heal with magic. Sickness is an especially tricky matter. Magic cannot cure the sickness itself, only the damage it does to one's body. A person's body must be strong enough to beat the disease, otherwise… otherwise it merely becomes a battle of attrition… with the body ultimately being eaten away."

The flash of pain in Diana's eyes was unmissable. At this moment the blonde Witch's usually radiant pale skin seemed duller, as if there were some spectre sucking at her life-force. A little forceful Akko asked, "What's wrong, Diana?"

"It's nothing."

"Don't lie to me! It's obvious something is bothering you."

"Really, Akko. It's nothing. I'm just more tired than I expected to be."

"Diana!" Shouted a frustrated Akko. She pulled against the hand that was leading her, whipping its owner around. Bracing herself on her toes she shoved her face into Diana's glaring angrily. "Stop being so stubborn! Just tell me what's wrong! I'm your friend and I'm here to help!" Shaken by Akko's outburst, Diana could only hold regret at how obstinate the both of them were.

 _And now I've gone and made a big deal out of something small. And of course Akko's just going to keep pressing me for more and more answers._ Exhaling slowly she gazed deeply into fiery crimson eyes, and so her resistance faded away like snow in the summer. Akko's brightness in moments like these was blinding, her adamant, yet sincere efforts were something not even Diana could match up to.

"I had a dream about my mother," began the sombre heiress in a soft voice. "Nothing bad happened. It was no nightmare. Yet, still… I suppose it made me reminisce of the times she was still around. She passed away from illness. There was nothing I, or anyone else could do for her. It just brings up bad memories, and even worse moods."

Akko closed the already meagre distance between the two of them, feeling Diana's yearning for comfort. She wasn't quite sure what she should do, and she said the only thing she could think of. "I don't know a lot about your family, or your mother. But I'm sure that she never felt like you weren't ever doing anything for her! I'm sure just knowing that you were worried for her, was all that she needed."

"I wonder… back then my mom used to tell me that efforts of kindness would always repay themselves. If that was so true, 'why is she the one wasting away?' I used to think. Then I wonder if maybe it's because back then I wasn't doing anything out of kindness. Far from it, I was merely just selfishly indulging myself."

Gripping her friends hand tightly Akko yelled at Diana in frustration, "That's not true! Diana you're one of the kindest people I know! Ever since you've come to the academy, every time you help out you never do it for yourself! Everything you've done so far was for other people, so… so there's no way that can be true. Idiot."

"Say, Akko. Have you heard of Panacea?"

"Pana-cea?"

"It's a legendary herb that, when mixed into a medicine, is said to be able to cure any illness. We found it. I say we but it was mostly my father who did all the important work. I only translated a few simple scripts. We found it and yet…"

At this moment the swelling emotions Akko experienced listening to Diana reached their overflow. She embraced her grieving friend, wrapping her arms tightly around Diana's slender frame. Unsure what to say or do, she grabbed onto Diana and charged straight for her room.

"A-Akko! Where are you taking me?"

"I can't handle you when you're all mopey like this so I'm going to fix it!" Overcome by a sudden feeling of dread, Diana asked.

"Fix it how?"

* * *

"Sucy! Wake up, I need your strongest potions!" Storming into her room without regard for neighbours nor roommates, Akko yelled her command as loudly as she could. Following behind her and looking none too pleased was Diana who visibly cringed at Akko's misconduct.

"Ah, Akko. Welcome home," mumbled a drowsy Lotte. She rubbed at the sleepiness in her eyes and peered down from atop the top bunk. She couldn't make out the unfamiliar blur beside her close friend and began to search for her glasses. From the other side of the room, Sucy slowly rose, looking like a zombie rising for her grave. Grimacing she berated Akko.

"Keep it down! You're so suffocating sometimes. What is it? What's the big fuss? What kind of trouble did you get into now?" It was at this moment Lotte found her glasses. Plopping them on to rest at the bridge of her nose, she recognised their guest.

"Oh, Diana's here too?" With a grunt Sucy craned her neck looking behind Akko and seeing the aforementioned Witch. Sucy wondered just why the two of them were together so late at night. Deciding that was something that could be easily pried out of Akko later though, she pushed the thought aside.

"Sucy!I need to know, do you have like a happiness potion or something?" Glancing disinterestedly at her noisy roommate, Sucy shrugged.

"All my potions bring happiness to me, though I can't promise the same for others."

"Darn. Well what about a potion that makes you realise how much of an idiot you are."

"If I did have one I'd have forced it down your throat already."

"S-Sucy…" breathed Lotte. Once again exasperated by their interactions. "Why do you suddenly need such specific potions?" Asked Lotte, curiosity peeking up.

"They're for Diana," answered Akko. The other two witches looked quizzically at the Cavendish heiress. Diana returned a look of equal puzzlement and the one shared thought throughout the room was, 'Just what are you thinking now, Akko?'

"Well," started Sucy, grin widening menacingly. "If it's for Diana. I have plenty of potions that I've been dying to test out. You'll make the perfect guinea pig." Frowning, the blonde Witch narrowed her eyes at Sucy.

"I am no guinea pig." Ignoring Diana's remark, the poison-loving witch got up and began rummaging around her workbench. Unable to control herself, Akko closed the gap between the two and looked on excitedly over Sucy's shoulder. After moments of searching, Sucy lifted up a triangular bottle, with an oozing black and viscous liquid.

"Perfect," she smiled with her sharp teeth and handed the bottle over to Akko. "Try this one. This should put that frown upside down." Looking please, the brunette Witch turned around, looking on imploringly at Diana.

"Oh, Diana~~~"

"Absolutely not."

"Just drink it, I promise it never tastes as bad as it looks." Egged on Sucy, slowly closing in on her prey. Akko nodded in agreement.

"She's right! It tastes worse," the last part was mumbled.

"Absolutely not! Taste is not the issue." Fearing for her life, Diana searched for her only chance of help. The one sane companion in this room. "Lotte! What?" Yet, she was not to be found.

"Do it now!" Roared Akko. At her command, Diana felt hands grab her from behind. Immobilising her completely. Looking back she saw the bespectacled Witch was the one holding her. _I was betrayed!_ Yelled Diana mentally.

"Sorry about this. When these two get like this it's quicker and easier for you just to go along." Reasoned the traitorous Lotte with a guilty smile. Seizing the moment, Akko leaped at Diana and shoved the potion into her mouth. Unable to struggle, the Cavendish Witch swallowed the contents of the bottle.

"Nice teamwork!" Celebrated Akko with a fist pump to the air. Satisfied with herself she switched to observing her handiwork. Waiting to see what would become of Diana. Upon noticing her targets face begin to twist and contort unnaturally, she reached for the bottle on the ground. Diana face became red like a cherry and it felt as if in moments she would explode. "What did you give her, Sucy!" The label on the bottle read: 'Laughing Potion."

A thunderous bellow echoed throughout the room as Diana's last shackles of control broke. Laughing uncontrollably and with tears in her eyes, all semblance of grace had vanished from the heiress. All that remained was an eternally laughing, maniacal madman. "S-stop! Ma-ma-make it stop! Oh oh oh my! I-I-I can't stop lau-laughing! I-I can't breathe! Make it st-stop!" In between fits of rolling laughter, Diana begged for some relief.

"Sucy! This is too much! Where's the antidote?"

"Interesting. I didn't expect such a profound effect. When I used it on Akko last week she only giggled at her reflection for a bit. I wonder if it's something to do with blood. Hmm, where's my notebook. Must write this down, write this down." The potion-brewing Witch seemed far too caught up in academic observation to hear any request made of her.

"Here, Akko! Try this one." Lotte passed on a cylindrical flask with an ephemeral blue mixture inside. Hoping for the best, Akko straddled the laughing Witch and gave her the potion. Diana stilled and the deafening laughter came to an end. "Nice one, Lotte!"

"Ah, it's so hot in here." Akko looked down at the source of the complaint and immediately a furious red blush assaulted her cheeks and ears.

"Di-Di-Diana what are you doing!?" Sweating profusely it felt as if Diana's very blood was boiling. Her body was being assaulted with scorching waves of heat. Heat so intense that it clouded her mind as she desperately sought out whatever relief she could. _It's so hot! So so hot!_ In an attempt to cool down her flaming body, Diana discarded her tie and began to unbutton her shirt. Entranced, Akko could only drool as slowly, more and more of the heiress' pale skin was revealed to her hungry eyes. Akko followed the path of a bead of sweat as it ran down the contours of Diana's body, from the tip of her chin flowing down her neck, lower and lower. It reached Diana's heaving chest and settled in the cleavage of her humble breasts.

"S-so today was purple," breathed Akko wondrously.

"Who knew Akko was such a pervert," snickered Sucy closing in from behind. "Good think to know my aphrodisiac was so effective."

"Why would you have that here!?" Roared Akko furiously, breaking out of her stupor. "Lotte quickly! Another one!" She took the next vial offered to her, one with a translucent white liquid and prayed that it would fix everything. Upon finishing the next potion, Diana revelled as the unbearable heat of her body began to dissipate. Closing her eyes and breathing a sigh of relief, she looked up at the cause of all this trouble. What she saw was a sight that would be eternally ingrained into her mind.

 _Pink cherries._

"WHY ARE YOU NAKED!?" With suddenly found herculean might, Diana threw Akko off of herself and averted her eyes from her nudity. "P-put on some clothes! Hurry!" It was at this moment when Diana surveyed her surroundings that she noticed everyone, was naked. "WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Panicked and blushing, the heiress shut her eyes tight and buried her head into the floor.

"So my 'X-Ray Vision' potion is only strong enough to go through layers of clothing. Hmm, how to get it to penetrate the skin? Perhaps I should consider a more potent ingredient, eye of newts rather than toad?" Marking her notes down, Sucy seemed none too concerned about Diana's pains. Akko and Lotte were also reddening from head to toe at their apparently witnessed nudity. "Well enough of this one, I've got to admit it's a little embarrassing." Swiftly she forced the next potion down Diana's throat, this one was pink.

"What potion was that one?" Asked Lotte hesitantly. Still using her arms to cover herself.

"Ahh, that one's my love potion. The next person she lays her eyes on she'll fall completely in love with."

"Why do you have so many perverted potions!?" Fumed Akko, rushing towards the immobile Diana. "Wh-who needs a love potion anyways? What is this, a bad romcom?" Kneeling down, Akko hesitantly placed a hand on the blonde Witches shoulder. Diana raised her head, staring directly at Akko's flustered visage.

"Akko… Ugh, my head hurts." With this complaint, she cradled her head between her hands and tried to massage away the pain.

"Eh? Are you alright, Diana?"

"Of course I'm not alright!" She grit her teeth and glared angrily at Akko.

"No what I mean is… you don't have any sudden urge to… I don't know, confess your undying love to me?"

"What on earth are you going on about?" It was at this moment Diana noticed her state of undress and that her buttons had been undone so as to expose her bra to all present. With an incredulous yelp the deathly embarrassed Witch used her arms to retain as much modesty as she could at the current moment. Wordlessly, but with sharp movements that clearly detailed her furious state of mind, she buttoned up her shirt and grabbed her tie. With wounded pride she proceeded to exit the room. "Akko. Let me warn you now. I will not forget this slight."

With those venomous words she slammed the door shut, leaving the three roommates in awkward and stunned silence.

"Oh boy, you've really done it this time, Akko."

"This is all your fault Sucy!"

"I wonder if she hates you now."

"NO Lotte! Don't say that!"

Leaving the three rowdy roommates to their own devices, Diana truly wished she could bury herself. _What on earth were you thinking feeding me that woman's potions, Akko? Learn some restraint. Ahh, how immodest of me. I'm so embarrassed. How much did she see? Did I say anything weird, rather I saw everything of hers! Everything…_

That night, despite all the fuss – or probably because of it – Diana had the best sleep she'd had in a while, and sweet, sweet dreams.

* * *

 **A/N:** **To all my readers, hello and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Diana was experiencing gloom in this chapter and I think it's j** **ust like Akko to be her airhead self and cause trouble, that at the end of the day resolves everything.**

 **You can expect next chapter to be a lot fluffier.**

 **Until next time – R2Legit4You**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:  
** **Too close, too far.**

Light blue eyes slowly opened, lifting the dark veil of sleep. One blink to clear the head, a second to cast away the floating fuzz and a third to focus blurry vision. With a small yawn, Lotte reached for her magical orb. The device, a conduit for speaking with and summoning fairies, had many a number of useful features, such as an alarm clock. Said alarm clock had yet to go off, instilling a slight sense of pride in the freckled Witch for winning the race against herself. Stretching away the sleep within her muscles, Lotte reached for her glasses, enjoying the transition from blurriness to clarity.

She glanced over the other side of her room to see Sucy, lying still as a skeleton in a coffin. Deciding there was still some time until she had to rouse her roommates from sleep, she quietly descended from her position on the top bunk. Feet hitting the floor she immediately chuckled at her lower bunkmates dishevelled sleeping appearance. Body half in and half out of her duvet, hands splayed widely and softly snoring. Her two roommates had many differences, the way each slept being one of them.

Using her five minutes of free time she'd gotten from beating her alarm clock, Lotte decided to have an inventory check. Books, tools, pens and paper were all ready. She puffed her chest out in satisfaction, noting that Sucy had ruined one of her books with some kind of potion stain, Lotte wrote that she should buy a replacement for her friend soon. One that was 'not so cute' as Sucy had gotten mad at Lotte for gifting her a rather embarrassingly pink and fluffy pair of socks with kittens on them. As for Akko…. Well she needed a little bit of everything it seemed. More than a little bit.

"Well, it's to be expected," sighed Lotte at the current state of Akko's affairs, "she's forgetful and recently her extra lessons have really had her using up a lot of materials." Smiling happily for her friend who had had the flames of passion within them reignite, Lotte wished she could borrow just a small bit of Akko's recent enthusiasm. "Though, I wonder why she's been so motivated recently."

"Well, there's many reasons. But I think the biggest is the most obvious," butt in an unexpected voice. Crying out in shock, Lotte turned from her work to the source of the voice. Sucy rose from her sleep like a zombie from the grave. Slumping down, it seemed it would be a few more seconds before Sucy had knocked off all her sleepiness.

"Sucy, you're up! Sorry if I woke you," apologised Lotte. The potion-brewing Witch shook her head. Unconcerned Sucy instead pointed at the only remaining member of their room still asleep.

"More importantly isn't it about time you woke her up, we're going to be late if you don't. Well, not that I care either way."

"Well," began Lotte, taking a long look at Akko's sleeping face. "I was thinking I'd let her rest as long as possible, she came back really late last night from her tutoring. I think even Akko has limits to her stamina." Voicing her rather unenthusiastic understanding, Sucy climbed out of her bed and moved towards Akko.

"Still, when she looks so defenceless I can't help but want to mess with her," leered the pale Witch. Menacingly she leaned over Akko and pinched closed the sleeping girls nostrils. "It's time to wake up, Akko. Otherwise you'll be late and Mrs Finnelane will yell at you, or maybe you'd actually like being yelled at, by Diana that is."

Her body finally having realised that oxygen had ceased entering from its usual route, Akko woke up gasping furiously. "Can't breathe!" She shouted as she continued to sharply intake air into her lungs. Pleased at the reaction Sucy nodded. "What are you doing, Sucy! I couldn't breathe!"

"There, there, Akko. Calm down. She was just trying to wake you up." Lotte attempted to control the situation before Akko started yelling even more, thus disturbing their neighbours. "And Sucy! How many times have I told you to stop teasing Akko!" The accused party merely glanced away sheepishly. "So how did you sleep Akko? Sweet dreams?"

"Ah! Uh, well, I guess," replied Akko, shocked at the question and averting her gaze. This was not missed by Sucy.

"Oooh, could it be that, perhaps our young maiden in love, dreamed of her love?" Her complexion reddening Akko shot back.

"Huh! What do you mean maiden in love? Wh-who would I have of dreamed of anyway?"

"Well, maybe Andrew," offered Lotte, finger placed wonderingly on her chin. "You did tell us he confessed to you recently, maybe you're beginning to reciprocate his feelings?"

"No, no, no" shot down Sucy almost immediately. "Andrew could make Akko nervous sure, but who's the one that leaves her flustered? That leaves her red as a dwarf's hat? The person Akko can never shut up about?" Thinking for a moment, Lotte's eyes lit up.

"Diana!"

"Exactly! You're the winner Lotte, now as a prize you get to test out my latest potion!" Announced Sucy in her wonderfully unique narrator's voice that somehow lacked even an ounce of enthusiasm.

"What on earth are you two on about?" Shaking her head, Akko denied all plausibility to their – what she considered to be insane – ramblings.

"Jeez, I know you're dense Akko, but have you really not noticed you own feelings yet? It's so obvious." All laughter gone from her voice, Sucy focused on Akko. "I mean you two flirt all the time."

"We do not flirt!" Denied Akko vehemently.

"Do too. Right, Lotte?" Asked Sucy.

"I guess, actually. No definitely. You two definitely do."

"Not you too, Lotte! I swear it's nothing like that! Sure I don't dislike her like I used to. But she still always gets on my nerves and we're always fighting!"

"Correction, flirting." Piped in Sucy. Lotte nodded affirmatively in the background.

 _They do still fight, but them fighting is just par for the course. It's everything else that's changed._ Thought Lotte, looking at her blushing brunette friend. _Though we could be wrong._

"We. Do. Not. Flirt." Akko declared once again, grinding out each word with force.

"Fine then, Akko. You leave me no choice. I'll just have to prove it then." Sucy declared, looking strangely pumped up. Lotte knew this look all too well, Sucy was hatching up some sort of plan. Those eyes right now saw only one thing, an experiment. And an interesting one at that. Staring defiantly into her friends eyes, Akko accepted the challenge.

"Fine then. Though there's nothing to prove."

"Diana. Purple. Bra."

With the explosion above her head, and the crimson blush spreading from ear-to-ear, Lotte thought Akko looked like a volcano.

* * *

"You would like us to do what?" There were not many times in her life that Barbara would say she was completely stunned. Or at least there hadn't been. Up until she'd joined Luna Nova her life was one of normality, well as normal as it can be growing up in a magical family. However, due to a certain miscreant trio, lately all she'd been experiencing was shock at their antics. This was one of those moments. She glanced sideways at Hannah, her best friend and fellow Diana-enthusiast, then back at the sharp-toothed Witch in front of them.

They'd been on their way to Diana's quarters, intent on accompanying the Cavendish genius to breakfast as they'd done every morning. However on their way they'd run into someone quite troubling. With an even more troubling request.

"So, let me get this right," began Hannah, speaking slowly as to not mess up her words. "You'd like us, ahem, lackeys did you say? To watch Diana and Akko and count how many times we see them f-flirting?"

"Exactly," responded Sucy with a deadpan expression.

"That's absolutely outrageous!" Shouted Barbara, infuriated at the garish request. "I'm afraid us lackeys will have nothing to do with something so tasteless. Why would we want to help you out anyway? What are you scheming? Are you looking to blackmail Diana?"

"Sheesh, I knew getting you two on board would be the toughest part of this. But honestly you two are more annoying than I thought." Sucy sighed in exasperation. These two were snobbish and hard to deal with. Yet, she knew they weren't terrible people deep down, so she knew just how to play them. "Look here, you two used to bully Akko a lot you know?"

"Th-that's…" Stuttered Barbara, biting her lip in silent shame. The two of them turned their hands into fists, frustrated at their inability to say anything back.

"That's because you felt she was inferior. So you used to pick on the little guy to try and make yourselves seem bigger right? That's how these things work after all. I know you two regret it though. And the past is the past. But as Akko's friend even if she's forgiven you two, I still haven't and I don't think you two have either. Trust me on this, I'm throwing you a big juicy bone here, if you help me with this. I'll be able to get that idiot to realise something, and when she does she'll be thankful."

Barbara and Hannah were left speechless at Sucy's words. Both their accuracy and stinging delivery were like a slap to the face. Truthfully, the two had been meaning to make it up to Akko, and it was clear to them that Diana and Akko had been getting along a lot more lately. They were curious too about this transformation, but the two of them flirting? That seemed outrageous.

"Also," began Sucy again. "If you two really care about Diana, then you should help me. After all if this works out it could make Diana really happy." Watching the sudden change of their expressions, Sucy knew she had them hook, line and sinker.

"We'll do it!" They both declared in unison. Right now neither of them cared to think too deeply about the possible implications Diana and Akko's supposed flirting. However, they did care about making Diana happy.

"Though, I'm still not sure what you want us to look for," stated Hannah looking at her friend.

"True. What do you mean by flirting? And why must we count it?" Asked Barbara.

"I suppose flirting means something different to everyone," stated Sucy with sage words. "I'll leave that part up to your discretion. If you two see something that you feel is flirting. Just count it and write down what happened with this ink." She handed each of them a small, glass bottle of strangely glistening black ink. "Its ink I made with Obliviax moss, it'll make a copy of whatever memory you write down. " The two of them examined the contents of this incredible sounding mixture, but could not determine what made it special with their naked eyes.

 _As expected of Manbavaran,_ Thought Barbara frustrated.

"Now then, I'm expecting a lot from you. My lovely lackeys."

* * *

Jasminka Antonenko loved food. Or was it eating? It was probably both. _No_ , she thought. _It was definitely both_. Her favourite times of the day were the respective meal times. Time allotted purely for the sake of eating? Could anything in the world be more Zen? Now if she had to pick a favourite between those three, though it was a close and hard fought battle, she'd have to choose breakfast. After all it was the meal that she waited the longest for, after her midnight snack she would go for six hours without eating. Thus, it was only natural that the first meal of the day, the meal to start all meals, was the best of all.

Currently Jasminka was enjoying her favourite meal of the day in the Luna Nova cafeteria. Whilst she was swiftly and methodically sampling every combination of breakfast food that was on offer, she was also snacking on her favourite flavour of crisps. She'd obtained the packet by promising to fulfil Sucy's request. For every good moment Jasminka captured, Sucy promised her more food. She may not have looked it, but she was fired up.

"Ah! Where did all the chocolate muffins go!?" Akko's cry of despair echoed throughout the cafeteria. Drawing the attention of many. Jasminka slyly hid the wrappings of the four she'd eaten. Did she feel guilty? Not at all. Food was a battle. First come, first served. She believed that in its entirety, but she didn't want to gain Akko's temporary ire.

 _In this world, it's eat, or be eaten._

"What did I tell you, Akko. If you take too long to get ready, you'll be late and all the good food will be gone. Here at least there's still a bran muffin." Lotte tried her best to cheer her friend up, offering Akko the bran with a gentle smile.

"Still! I was really looking forward to a chocolate one! I've been waiting all week for Monday Muffin Morning and I get stuck with bran!? Ugh, this sucks." Akko slumped, defeated. Lotte tried her best to cheer up her friend, but to little avail.

"Akko," ringed a musical voice. Said Witched looked up from the floor to meet eyes with the ever regal Diana Cavendish. She was as immaculately dressed as ever, a stark contrast to Akko's slovenly appearance. Now, would Diana deliver reckoning on Akko for causing a scene and not appreciating the food before her? Or…

"Oh, good morning, Diana." Greeted Akko weakly.

"Here," stretching out both her arms, Diana held in her hands a chocolate muffin. "Let's make a trade, your bran muffin for my chocolate. Is that acceptable?"

"For realsies!?" Exclaimed Akko in glee. "Diana are you sure? Chocolate beats bran any day of the week. That's fact, just fact."

"I suppose it does. Well, think of this as a reward for your efforts last night then. It took a while but we've finally made a big breakthrough." Diana responded with a proud smile. Her deep blue eyes shone as she made the trade.

"You're amazing, Diana! The best! Thanks so much!" With her gratitude made clear, Akko tore into the muffin with unparalleled vigour. Diana, much like her blander bran muffin, took small, unassuming bite of her own food. Still, the blonde Witch looked oddly content, with the faintest of reds on her cheeks, only visible because of just how moonlike her skin was.

"Thanks for that, Diana." Expressed Lotte, rejuvenated by Diana's freshness. Diana nodded in response, watching Akko. Suddenly, as if the greatest idea in the world had struck her, a lightbulb erupted above Akko's head. With a sharp movement, the brunette Witch shoved her chocolate muffin in front of Diana's face.

"Rather than a trade, how about we share muffins? Here take a bite." Diana looked between the chocolate muffin, and the chocolate muffin-coloured hair girl in hesitation. At Akko's urging however, she slowly leaned in and took a bite of the muffin held in Akko's welcoming hand. Looking satisfied, the brunette Witch then quickly stole a bite of Diana's muffin. This continued for a while, Diana's blush growing the whole time, alongside Akko's smile.

 _This, this is more than I expected,_ thought Jasminka whilst quickly writing down what she was witnessing. Jasminka would be in absolute heaven if someone were feeding her different kinds of muffins. _Well that's one down._

 _I wonder if they'll let me have a bite._

* * *

"You see class, Baba Yaga was a notorious Witch she was primarily active around the late-to mid-sixteenth century with many great accomplishments to her credit but her conduct was another matter thanks to her Witches of the time suffered from-"

Shaking her wrist to remove the pain, Hannah looked up from her notebook with a sigh. Mrs Finnelane's magical history lectures were the worst class of the day. Not only did she teach unenthusiastically, but her lack of pauses during her speech made it almost impossible to make proper notes. Giving up and praying this material wouldn't appear on any important tests, she turned her attention to the curious bottle of ink she'd received from Sucy. _Diana and Akko…_

The two aforementioned parties had slowly but surely developed what was now a commonplace seating arrangement. At first the two would just sit where they felt like it, but now they would sit either in front of, or behind one another. As Barbara and Hannah would always take up Diana's sides, and Akko's trio of miscreants were also always together, this seemed to be the most obvious arrangement to keep close to each other. As much as she tried not to notice it, this morning even Hannah could see that Diana was searching for Akko before finding a seat. Currently, Akko was directly in front of the Cavendish girl and seemed to have also given up on following Finnelane's lecture.

Bored, the energetic brunette turned towards Diana and began whispering. "Say, Diana. Recently I learnt a new word that describes you perfectly." Having garnered her attention, Diana fixed Akko with a curious stare. Looking as if she were trying to hold back her laughter, Akko continued. "The word is, unflappable."

"I see, thank you." Diana nodded unperturbed, and continued writing down her notes. Still looking as if she were dam wall, holding back a torrent of laughter Akko began to tear up.

"Unflappable. It's such a funny word to say, and the fact that it fits you so well is even funnier. Diana, the unflappable." To this, Hannah noticed Barbara exhale sharply. _Come on… it's not even that funny._ Thought Hannah in disappointment. "Doesn't it kind of give you an image of a Dodo, or some other silly looking bird? Then I just imagine it with your face and-"

At that moment, Hannah barely managed to contain the villainous laugh which had escaped its prison. To cover herself and hide her amusement, she pretended as if she'd been sneezing. _Damn it! It's not even that funny! Hmph, Diana must be boiling over about now._ Hannah looked to see if her hypothesis was correct, only for her jaw to drop, stunned. Instead of silently fuming, Diana was predatorily leaning forward, eyes slit suggestively.

"Oh, you're very cheeky today aren't you, Akko? Well then, I'll just make sure that tonight I discipline you properly. We can practice your hex protection, so what shall I turn you into first, a sad puppy? Or a cute little kitten? I'm favouring the latter." With her piece said, the heiress retracted herself with practiced grace. True to her name, Diana the unflappable, continued writing her notes, as if nothing steamy had just transpired. Upon noticing her friend's incredulous stares, Diana raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter?"

 _She doesn't even realise how that looked!_ Screamed Hannah and Barbara mentally.

And with that exchange, another count was added to the list.

* * *

Constantze was a girl with a very serious demeanour. She had little interest in thing's she didn't consider worth her time. However, when something grabbed her attention and she found a goal, there was very little in the world that could stop her. So when Sucy came to the short Witch with her request, Constantze did the only thing she could.

She built a spy robot.

The design was simple, it was made to be as small as an insect so as not to attract attention. It could fly and stay airborne, stick to walls and other surfaces and it had a video recording function. She'd programmed the bot to follow Akko, and record moments of interest. Now what was to be considered flirting was a question Constantze had pondered for quite some time. Reaching no clear consensus. She set it to just record whenever the two were physically close or touching. She'd finished building the robot during breakfast, and now during their first lunch break, she began to analyse the recordings. Here, were her findings:

08:11 – Akko drops her book, Diana picks it up. Hands make contact during transfer.

08:34 – Whilst getting into class, shoulders brush.

09:27 – During a spell casting, Akko flicks own wand into eye. Diana applies a poultice to the injured area.

09:29 – During a spell casting, Akko flicks wand into Diana's back. Diana threatens Akko with permanent kitten-ship. (More Intel required) Diana smiles strangely.

09:33 – During a spell casting, Akko flicks wand into window. Diana seizes wand from Akko. Lifts it too high for Akko to reach.

09:38 – During a spell casting, Akko flicks wand into window, breaking it. It is revealed that Amanda had sabotaged the wand somehow. Diana apologises to Akko.

10:01 – Whilst walking into courtyard, Akko removes a leaf from Diana's hair.

10:20 – Two are partnered together for Herbology, hands often touch.

10:50 – Akko trips, Diana catches her.

11:28 – Akko trips again. This time knocks over Diana. A total of 38 seconds was spent on the ground before either made an attempt to stand. Akko proceeds to continuously murmur 'purple'. (Currently under investigation.)

12:00 – Diana notices a stain on Akko's uniform. Tells her to get it cleaned.

 _REQUEST FOR IMMEDIATE DATA RETRIEVAL. END OF CURRENT LOG._

* * *

It was the afternoon now, and finally after yet another day of dull and boring lectures, came the one class Amanda actually enjoyed. It was the class where she could finally jump onto her broom and soar in the skies like an eagle. If only she weren't constantly being shouted at for pulling off dangerous manoeuvres, this time would be perfect. However, this time round she wasn't enjoying herself too much. The reason being today she was tasked with watching Akko and making sure she didn't hurt herself.

"Oi! Come on! Really it'd just be faster if you went and walked!" Yelled Amanda at Akko's snail-like pace. Of course she was exaggerating, Akko wasn't that slow. But she was clumsy and having trouble staying balanced. Also the higher Akko went, the worse she performed. It was like there was an invisible anchor whose weight grew the higher up she was. Right now they were about ten metres up, and watching the brunette Witch was terrible for one's heart. Annoyed, Amanda flew to Akko's side. "What's your problem? You were doing fine when we had just taken off? What you afraid of heights or something?"

"That's not it, I keep telling the broom to move faster but it just won't."

"Whadd'ya mean it won't? You just have to be like whoosh! And force it out!"

"What does that even mean?!"

Noticing the pairs bickering, Diana who had just finished her last circuit approached them. Following their conversation was tricky as both seemed to use less and less actual words as time went on. Having grasped the situation however, she pulled up right alongside Akko. Upon noticing the heiress, Amanda stopped talking and watched her suspiciously. _Alright, Sucy. Let's see if anything interesting happens._

"Akko, come back down to the ground," said Diana, proceeding to land. Following unsteadily behind was Akko. "Amanda, you don't mind if I take over, do you?"

"Do what you want," puffed Amanda. Nodding, Diana dismounted and stood next to Akko, who had her head tilted quizzically.

"Listen up, Akko. Remember what I said about how you need to change the way you think about magic?" At Diana's question Akko nodded.

"Right!"

"So first of all, why is it that you can fly well close to the ground, but get worse as you go higher?"

"Well, I mean… I guess it's because I don't really know how much magic power to use higher up. And like it gets trickier to control."

"And that's where you're wrong, Akko." With a nod of her head, the heiress prompted Akko to mount her broom. Akko did so and Diana moved in closer. "Where you're wrong is that you think what you need to do one metre above the ground and ten metres above the ground is different. They're the same thing, Akko. Once you're in the air, the spell is complete. You're flying. There's no need to change how you fly depending on how high up you are."

"Really?" Questioned the brunette, a look of deep thought crossing her face. "So… I don't change anything?"

"More or less," agreed Diana. "May I?" She asked, gesturing towards Akko's broom. Hesitating for a moment, Akko nodded and the heiress joined her on the broom as a passenger. "Now then," continued the blonde, reaching over behind Akko's back and joining her hand atop the brooms rider.

 _What?_ Thought Amanda at Diana's actions, _Is that really necessary? I mean my mom helped me when I was small sure, but somehow… somehow this is really embarrassing to watch._

At Diana's nod, Akko carefully took off into the air. "Tia Freyre!" She commanded, it took her a while to adjust for the extra weight but soon she'd settled into a stationary position, just off the ground.

"Good now, hold the broom more like this," Diana gently guided Akko's hand with her own, her slender fingers slipping into the gaps of the brunette Witch's. "Right, just like that. Next fix your posture, raise your back more, more. There." Back met chest and all distance between the two of them closed. Diana nestled her head into Akko's shoulder, blonde and brown hair mixing together.

Amanda felt like she was seeing something she wasn't supposed. Behind the farce of teaching Akko how to fly, right now the two seemed to be sharing a very intimate moment. Diana's firms, yet caring instructions were being obeyed without a hint of stubbornness from the usually ornery Akko. At this moment Amanda thought that there existed a strong sense of trust between these two, which had developed whilst no one was watching. A secret bond that no one else was privy to.

"You two are so embarrassing! Jeez! Get a room!" Yelled Amanda, both embarrassed and irritated at their casual familiarity. Hurriedly she rushed down and grabbed the ink which had been given her. _This is worth ten points I say! Ten points! The way those two are so lovey-dovey is gross._

Oh, and after this it seemed Akko learnt how to fly properly.

* * *

 **A/N: At last Akko can fly! Who knew it was all just about the way you think, huh? Anyway, this chapter was delayed and University is starting again soon so I probably won't be able to keep updating at the current rate. I've tried to keep the chapters at just over 2000 words so I can post them regularly but every time I fail miserably and double the word count. With that being said, if the chapters stay the same length, it'll probably be an update once every two weeks, or if you'd like, I can maintain the current pace but with shorter chapters. Let me know what you'd prefer!  
**

 **TL;DR: Will be busier soon. Releases will be delayed, or made shorter.**

 **PS: If you're the type to notice those things you may have noticed my summary for this story never stops changing, well that's mostly because I can't seem to get a summary I'm completely satisfied with. Pay it no mind.**

 **Enjoy your lives - 2Legit4You**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:  
** **An Heiress and her Heart**

"Say, Diana," began an unsure Hannah, unable to amass the willpower to ask the question they'd both been meaning to ask, she looked to her friend Barbara in support. Receiving the silent message, Barbara took a moment's breath, then locked eyes with the platinum blonde beauty.

"Do you like Akko?"

An instant's anxiety flared within Diana at the question. With refined movements, Diana classily took her teacup into her hand, she sipped at her tea, letting its subtle aroma and taste quench both her thirst and anxiousness. With a minute clink, she set her cup down on its embroidered coaster.

"Well, I certainly find her less niggling now than I did at our first encounter. I'd say her and I have a rather amiable relationship at present."

"That's not quite what we're getting at…" trailed off Barbara. However, utilising her friend's momentum, Hannah spurred forth.

"We mean do you like her in the lover's sense!?" She blurted out.

With a bite from the depths, Diana's heart faltered. An icy wave of panic reverberated through her body. Again, Diana sought solace in her tea. Using the time she sipped it to feign apathy at the current topic.

"Why, whatever in the world gave you that idea? Sorry to be a bore, but I harbour no such scandalous emotions for that blockhead."

"Well I'm not sure scandalous is exactly the kind of thing we're going for," said Barbara with a dissatisfied frown. "It's just that lately you know, you've been spending a lot of time with Akko and—"

"Well that's simply because I was asked by a teacher to assist in her tutoring. There's a large gap in Akko's knowledge compared to the rest of us, I am merely doing my due diligence. I'd think you two fortunate for not requiring my assistance in such basic affairs."

"Well, yes, we get that. But it's more than that. It's like the way you act around her is different as well. Not in a bad way! Just you know, different. More affectionate."

"Well tutoring Akko requires a certain hands-on approach. I must admit I was hesitant at first, but once I'd seen Akko was a practical learner, such physical intimacies were unavoidable."

"Again, I guess we do kind of see what you're saying. It's difficult to explain properly and we can't word our thoughts as clearly as you but it just seems special somehow. Maybe you're not aware of it?" Offered Hannah with a shrug.

"There's nothing to be aware of. I have absolute clarity over my actions and intentions." With that statement, the heiress returned her attention to her hot beverage, attempting to halt the flow of the conversation. Her body language saying 'this conversation is over'. However her raven-haired friend was not going to give it up, it seemed.

"Diana, have a look at this!" Barbara threw down several pages between them. Hannah's eyes widened in shock as Diana's tightened in puzzlement.

"Barbara! I don't think that's a good idea! Sucy made us promise not to let Diana know!" Spoke Hannah, looking to the heiress. Diana's ears had perked up at the mention of the Poison Witch's name. The gnawing fear she'd been trying to restrain now began to slowly nibble at her.

"None of that matters, Hannah! We're Diana's friends not hers. And I think it's important Diana knows how obscene she's been acting lately!" Said Barbara to her hazel-haired friend's protests. "Please, Diana. Read them." Doing as her friend asked, Diana reached for the papers. She scanned the familiar font of her friends' penmanship, the contents of the page left her red-cheeked and furious.

"What is this supposed to be!?" Yelled Diana, waving around the page. "You two have been documenting my affairs in private? This is an invasion of my privacy, how vilifying."

"That's not true! We've only been writing down moments when you're with Akko! In mostly public spaces. We weren't trying to spy on you or anything," protested Hannah at the heiress' accusations. However, Diana's grave stare served to be a cat holding her tongue from speaking any further.

"Regardless of the circumstances, it is one and the same. How mortifying that even you two have… Did you say it was Sucy who put you up to this? Why? To what end?" Getting close, Diana loomed over the other two Witches, pressing for a reply.

"You've got the wrong idea! Truly, we weren't trying to spy on you! Or do anything against you for that matter. Sucy said if we helped her, then it would make you happy! It was for your benefit, I swear. It's just it got to a certain point and we really wanted to know if you were aware of your behaviour." Barbara at first shaking, turned to face Diana head on. "Are you in love with Akko?"

Meeting Barbara's stare, the heiress' will faltered. She turned around to reach for another sip of her tea, only to find that its contents had emptied sooner than anticipated. "As I said earlier, and I will not repeat myself again, I harbour no such illicit feelings for Miss Kagari. Now, why did that spidery Witch put you up to this? Is it blackmail? Did my aunt get to her?"

"Th-there you go again with words like scandalous and illicit and blackmail! Stop saying things like that!" Shouted Hannah, stunning both other Witches present. "You're supposed to get embarrassed when talking about love, not angry! We're not here to monger up gossip about some steamy forbidden love affair like little schoolgirls with too much time on their hands and nothing in their brains! We're here as friends to find out if you're in love." Gently, Barbara placed a calming hand on Hannah's shoulder, nodding in agreement with her friend's words.

"Even if I was, that is neither here nor there. There must be a purpose behind this drivel Manbavaran had you scrawl on paper. I can only imagine the party my aunt would host if she got a hold of one of these, the words she'd twist, the venomous tongues she'd get flapping just like her snakes." Deciding that she had to investigate further, Diana began to make her exit. Her two friends, not wanting this conversation to end on such a sour tone yelled out to stop her.

"Diana wai—"

"Barbara. Hannah." Stopping, but not turning her head, leaving her friends to only wonder at the kind of face she was making, Diana spoke. "Believe me when I say I'd like nothing more right now than to get embarrassed talking about love and the like. But I cannot."

* * *

For Diana, nothing was instantaneous. Everything in life took time, advanced gradually like the sea into the land. Moments of breakthrough and innovation, of clarity and discovery, were not waxed from nothingness like fabled magic. Instead, these miracle moments were the product of time, effort and leaving oneself open to understanding. This philosophy of hers proved itself in almost all moments of her life.

Take for example a younger Diana, a small girl with some curious attractions. Growing up as she had, affection between two women was not uncommon. Praises of beauty, compliments of attire and grace. Such was the casual conversation of those in the upper-echelons. Words such as "You look absolutely stunning!" or "My, she is a beauty." Were often said in passing between women and other girls her age. So did she find it unusual for her to admire the prettiness of those of her sex? Not at all.

What a younger Diana did not understand was the fascination girls around her seemed to have with handsome boys like Andrew. There they'd be, like dull pigeons swarming around feed, cooing and aweing at his attractiveness. Whilst she could see the sharp features that made him appealing, she could never say she'd felt attracted to him, or any other boy her age for that matter. 'Perhaps it will come in time', she'd used to think. At the time, spells and magic had held the majority of her interest. And so, she paid it no mind.

Yet time advanced and as life weathered on around her, changing in ways she could have never foreseen. One thing remained constant, her disinterest in men. She, who was focused on her studies, never stopped to join in the idle conversations of the girls around her. To join in their fantasies and delusions of their prince charming. She held none of her own after all. In the tales of knights and princesses, whilst subconsciously placing herself in the shoes of the damsel princess, she used to think that it wouldn't be so bad being the knight. After all, when the dragon was slain and peace restored, he got such a beautiful woman all to himself. That thought resonated with her more than being with the dazzling knight.

Desiring both to be the princess, and have the princess was a jarring thought to reconcile.

It was a slow process. A gaze moments too long, eyes wandering where they should not. 'Her lips look soft', 'What a nice body', or 'she smells nice'. Such thoughts seemed to stray away from the ones that were normal to have about one's own gender. Arousal began to peak and Diana began experiencing the thoughts and emotions she'd only overheard from all the other girls around her, yet they were misplaced. Targeted at the girls around her, from small and cute, to wild and sexy.

It was a gradual attraction, one met with constant friction and walls born from ignorance. Yet, slowly but surely it developed. It was just before her fifteenth birthday that Diana became aware of her sexuality. And it was something she'd struggled to reason with at first. However the attraction was there and it remained, only growing stronger. It did not change who she was, what she strived to do, to become. Yet, she knew some would see it as her defining characteristic, ignoring all other merit of character. Worse yet, there would be others who'd see her tastes as deviant and use that information to destroy her. To take from her the last thing she had, her home. The house where she'd grown, been loved and cared for. The history she'd learnt and smiled over, the family she'd loved and was infinitely proud of.

She could not lose her home.

And so young Diana had made a decision, a decision to ensure she'd never act upon her impulses, to become romantically involved with any person. Magic would be her muse, and everything else would become secondary. She was to embody wholeheartedly the grace of a Witch, for her family and for her. Her future seemed so set in stone, unyielding to the wild torrents of life. Yet, there was of course bleakness in her vision. So she indulged herself and allowed herself to attend Luna Nova, as her ancestors did of old. There was not much it could offer her, truthfully. But she desired it nonetheless. It seemed fun.

In Luna Nova however, she met a girl who took the compass from her hands, and began to chart a new course for Diana, regardless of the one Diana had already chosen. Try as she might to keep her ship set sail for straight ahead, the intervention of Akko was beginning to spark a mutiny within her heart. One that was unknown and unmapped.

Unchartered territory was dangerous.

It had to stop.

Diana needed to seize command of her life once again, once already has Akko wrested control from Diana when she convinced her to return to Luna Nova after failing to become the new family head. The crew of her heart breathed easy then, but the captain worried at the now muddied map.

Whatever Sucy was up to, she needed to stop it.

* * *

"For what nefarious purpose do you have my own friends spying on me, Sucy?"

Looking up from her experiments, Sucy dragged a lazy eye over Diana's frame, mentally cursing at the two idiots who were the cause of her soon-to-be headache. She wondered if there was any escape from the situation, but the fuming heiress had planted herself within the doorframe of her room making the direct route impassable. She considered the window, but she did not have Akko's dumb luck to survive such a fall, nor the energy to attempt the jump in the first place. That left potions and the like, however none she had right now were suitable for such a purpose. Sighing in defeat she spoke.

"First off, whatever you're thinking it's not even half as bad as that. Secondly, remind your friends there will be a reckoning for opening their big mouths. Also, Akko and Lotte will be back soon so you better make whatever you want to say quick."

Uneasy at Sucy's casual dismissal of her concerns, Diana took a moment to think. She was bad at dealing with Sucy, and vice versa. This mutual struggle was likely born from a place of parity. Both knew the other Witch was strong, not someone that could be easily swayed or was like to make mistakes. As such, any interaction between the two was equally a battle of wills, as it was a contest not to be the first to slip-up.

"Fine. I too do not wish to slog out this encounter. So I'll ask one more time, why did you have Barbara and Sucy spy on me?"

"Well it wasn't just you they were spying on, it was Akko too. Also, it wasn't just those two. I asked everyone I was familiar with to do so." At Sucy's admission, Diana's hair seemed to flare up in anger, like a cobra spreading its band.

"You what?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble Miss-Perfect but you weren't the sole centre of attention I'm afraid. As for why, well I wanted to bring something to Akko's attention. With her thick-headedness, your advances weren't going to get anywhere anytime soon."

"My what?"

"Well you're in love with Akko, aren't you? It's pretty obvious to just about everyone. So I wanted to collect some data so that Akko could see it too. Maybe then she'd realise her own feelings and then we could all move on with our lives, instead of staying in this rut."

"You as well? I find myself repeating this yet again today, but there are no romantic feelings between Akko and I. We've merely formed a comfortable friendship." Diana crossed her arms, closing her eyes exasperatedly. Annoyed, Sucy bit her lip.

"You and I both know that's a lie, so cut the crap alright. You're beginning to make me angry."

"You have no right to wrath, you sneaky mole. Akko and I are the ones who have had our privacy intruded upon by your crazy whims. So I suggest that if you wish to make amends for your actions, you collect up all the scribbles you've had everyone write and burn them."

"I refuse."

"Then give me their names."

"No."

"But you must! Listen, I admit that the way I've been acting around Akko is shameless. I would attribute that too not having many close friends before this, and certainly none of Akko's disposition. I was unsure how to act around her. I've been made aware that I have overstepped some bounds, so if you could just hand the pages over then this frivolous affair will be done."

A dark aura seemed to fall upon the room, making the air wet and heavy. A paradoxical chill rattled Diana's skeleton as the room around her began to heat up. She noticed Sucy's usually slack features tighten. This she realised, was the Mushroom Witch when she was angry.

"Frivolous? Affair? Don't speak as if Akko's feelings are a game. Are something that doesn't concern you."

"I simply meant that I'd like this little incident of yours to be resolved, so that we can forget any idea that there are any such… sordid feelings between Akko and myself." The words were bitter, heavy. They threatened to make Diana curl up into a ball, but they needed to be said.

"You think it's disgusting? You think it's gross that someone as high and mighty as yourself would be loved by someone like Akko? Or is that not the reason, are you ashamed that you're both girls?" The silence that stretched on, spoke the words Diana could not say at a deafening roar. "I never would have thought you were a bigger idiot than Akko was."

"I—"

"No. You and your stupid pride don't get to say anything. You've been toying with Akko this whole time. What you're doing is despicable. It's unfair. It's unfair to her and it's unfair to me!" Her anger rising parallel to Sucy's, Diana's mouth began to from the words of her retort when she felt a familiar presence behind her.

"Sucy! I managed to get that weird mushroom you wanted! Man was it tough though! I would've died if it weren't for Lotte," spoke the person who was the source of all the strife. !" "Hm? What's up Diana?"

The tension which a moment ago had been so thick the air in the room could not move, was now blown away by Akko's oblivious cheer. "I was just checking up on something with Sucy," said Diana. Turning away and looking irritated, Sucy neither agreed nor disagreed. "I'll be going then."

And so Diana left, every step she took away from Akko increasing the distance between them.

* * *

 **A/N:** **So ends this chapter. From here on out we're going to be seeing somethings from other characters perspectives for a bit, and another popular Witch will be making an appearance.**

 **This chapter was late, and with it I decided to change the story's rating to M. I don't really understand what's considered mature content (outside of what is explicitly mature) and with how hypersensitive the world is recently better safe than sorry!**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a review telling me what you've thought so far and your feelings on the next story arc.**

 **Be well – R2Legit4You**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:  
Coming To One's Senses

* * *

Come twilight the usually busy hallways of Luna Nova, which had Witches of all degrees clambering and strolling about, became almost eerily empty and silent. The East Wing where the majority of classroom were located were empty as the days lessons had finished a few hours prior. The West Wing which hosted most of the Academy's extracurricular clubs and activities was also now beginning to thin out as everyone ventured either to their rooms to retire immediately for the day, or to the baths and kitchens.

It was at this hour of little foot traffic that most birds calmly perched themselves atop balconies, and fountains, enjoying the peace of a day's closing. Such was the serene air common to this time of day. Except there was one hallway where this veil of peace failed to settle, this was due to the heavy pacing of one of Luna Nova's finest. The buoyant Witch Akko was more restless than usual, this was due in no small part to the troubled state of her mind.

The locale of her pacing was a small, yet colourful courtyard within the East Wing. She had circled the fountain and flowerbeds there some fifty times by now and seemed nowhere near finished. What was on her mind was the absolutely mortifying experience she'd had earlier today.

When Akko had woken from her sleep this morning, she was met with the sharp-teethed smile of her friend, Sucy. The experience was not uncommon as Akko had become the guinea pig for a countless number of Sucy's experiments and yet, when she got out of bed, eyeing her pale friend suspiciously. Nothing had happened. She felt fine and there was no clear indication that Sucy had force fed her anything in her sleep. This should have caused her warning sensors to go off, but it seems they were duller than most.

Then came the bizarre series of visitors to their room. First came in the Amanda trio.

"Yo! You sleepyheads awake yet or what?" Said Amanda whilst barging unannounced into the room. Akko was a late riser (especially on Saturday mornings) and so was still dressed in her simple white shirt and red boxers. Raising her head in surprise Akko greeted the sudden intruder.

"Oh, Amanda! What's up?" Upon making eye contact with the crimson-eyed brunette, Amanda frowned slightly, her face growing red.

"Nothin," she huffed, turning away.

Before Akko could consider Amanda's odd behaviour for too long, Constantze poked her small head out from behind the tomboy's back. With a silent nod, the mouse-nosed German nodded her greetings. Overwhelmed by her cuteness, Akko shot up and planted herself on the petite Witch.

"Constantze! Your goggles are looking extra shiny today! Did you polish them or something? They're looking good. Aw man! Say remember that thing I asked you to make? Well? Did you do it yet? Do you need my help maybe?" Constantze was not a fan of being doted or hugs in general. Usually she would have pushed someone off by now, but Akko had been the first to notice the new shine she'd given her goggles, so she let it slide. Yes, they were looking good.

It was during this time when Akko was enamoured by Constantze that Amanda stealthily approached Sucy, handing her the notes from all three of them. With an affirmative nod, Sucy dismissed them, happy at the notes they'd provided. "Well then, let's get out of here guys." Said Amanda, pulling Constantze and Akko apart by their collars.

"What? You're leaving already? Constantze hasn't even told me if she's made my jetpack yet!"

"Why the hell would you want something like that? That just sounds dangerous! You got brooms if flyin's what ya want. "

"Ah, precious little Amanda. I knew you wouldn't see the glory of the jetpack. The jetpack isn't about being able to fly. No, it's about more, it's about looking awesome and making an entrance! Isn't that right, Constantze?" Still suspended in mid-air by Amanda, the German-genius raised an enthusiastic thumb in agreement.

"Ah, well whatever! We gotta go anyways or Jasminka's going to be late for breakfast… that must never happen again." Jasminka nodded in agreement, smiling simply as she snacked on some cookies. Before leaving however, Jasminka reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of chips which she then handed over to Akko.

"This is in return for all the treats you gave me this week," she said before leaving for breakfast. Akko stood still on her feet for several moments dumbfounded.

"Did I give Jasminka any snacks this week? Hmm… I must have. But why can't I remember?"

"Well even if you weren't really aware of giving her something doesn't mean you didn't, you know?" Laughed Lotte lightly.

Everything was suspicious, yet still the alarms in Akko's mind failed to go off. There were two more visits that morning. The next was a visit by Chariot, she didn't stay long, only asking Akko how her studies had been going before handing over to Sucy what she said were research notes. The final and most surprising visit was a visit by Barbara and Hannah. They had business with Sucy it seemed, they were uneasy the whole time they were in the room, and when Akko pried for details, neither Sucy nor Lotte would relent.

It was only when Akko had reached her wits end that she heard Sucy began to fiddle around with the various liquids and ingredients on her desk. With a pop, a couple fizzles and just one or two minor explosions Sucy faced her bewildered friend, with a grin wider than her face.

The chills preceding down Akko's spine made it feel as if her skeleton was walking outside her body.

* * *

"U-Um… so like, wow… y-you think she notices? Like i-is it me doing all this subconsciously or like m-maybe this isn't a big deal to her and I'm overthinking things but like… wow."

Such was the eloquent speech spoken by a newly enlightened Akko. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable in her own skin, she began to fiddle with her toes, seeking a distraction from her discomfort. Face buried in her knees, her eyes flickered up and down like a faulty light. Watching the rather subdued Akko, who was huddled tight and resting against the wall of her bed, Lotte and Sucy smirked satisfactorily.

It had been quite the spectacle watching Akko's ever changing expressions during the little movie Sucy had prepared for her. She started out confused, then embarrassed, quickly there arose a moment of denial where Akko thought all of it had been staged. She claimed this was another prank of Sucy's and that she'd hired look alikes or created clones, or maybe it was a trick of Lotte's fairy magic. Then came the yelling as tormenting embarrassment took over and for the last five minutes or so, just quiet contemplation, as realisation sunk in, like butter melting on bread.

"I think the two of you are really cute," remarked Lotte, sitting to the right of Akko. "You remind me of two characters from the 69th book of Night Fall! It was a love story between a princess and a Witch! It was so romantic!"

"D-don't say that. It's embarrassing."

"There's no reason to be acting so bashful Akko, jeez." Sucy positioned herself opposite of Lotte, sandwiching Akko between the two of them. "Also didn't those two characters die, Lotte?"

"Don't tell me that!" Yelled Akko.

"My bad," snickered an unconcerned Sucy. The three of them sat in some silence for a while.

"Ah, man! What's wrong with me? First of all and I've been wondering this for some time but what kind of idiot turns down Andrew!? I mean, I guess now I have my answer, like properly but like… with someone like her? Isn't that just weird? I mean she used to be so stuck up all the time, and prissy! Though now, I guess she really is kinda sweet and nice and I do like it when I'm with her but, man I really am stupid."

"You certainly are unique, Akko! But, I can also see why Diana, she's really pretty and smart. There's a lot to like. I have to admit, sometimes I'm quite envious of how she's able to do anything." Lotte admitted. The bespectacled girl was happy for her friend.

"Right!? She's almost too perfect! Also did you see that one time where she said she wanted me to be her pet cat? At the time I was scared she was really going to do it… but watching it again how can someone be so sexy without even trying? Did I just say that out loud? Please forget I ever said that."

"Forgotten."

"Right. Great. Okay. I mean, I must have been really dense to not notice it until now right? It's amazing how different everything looks from another perspective. Incredible. Is that also magic?"

"Not really."

"Of course it isn't magic. Looking back on it I've said some pretty embarrassing things to her. Sucy, do you have an amnesia potion I could take? Something that will wipe away all my memories?"

"Yes, though I don't want you to forget about us so I won't give it you."

"But you have to!" Lotte took this moment to begin patting Akko's head. This calmed the love-struck girl down and she deflated like a balloon, head buried back into her knees.

"I know it's embarrassing, Akko. But that's half the fun of being in love right?" Lotte's sage words rang in Akko's head like a bell. One word in particular continuously ricocheted within her ear, before finally passing through into her brain.

"Love. It's weird though. Because I love you guys too, you know?" Akko raised her head like a mole rising from its hole in the ground, eyes and heart seeking clarity.

Simultaneously Lotte and Sucy responded, smiling. "Yep, and we love you too."

"Thanks. I love Chariot too, and my mom and my dad. And I know they all love me back as well." Lotte and Sucy nodded, affirming the affection many held for Akko. Then softly, Akko whispered, "do you think Diana loves me too?"

Sucy breathed a heavy sigh, exhausted yet again by Akko's lack of sense. "Grow a brain please, if not give me yours so I can compare it to a chickens."

"Bu—"

"Since when did the Akko I know become such a downer?" Asked Sucy, her one eye locked on Akko. "You're not yourself right now at all. The Akko I know wouldn't spend so much time thinking about unnecessary things, that's everyone else's jobs. Where's your usual exhausting optimism?"

"Exactly, Akko." Chipped in an enthusiastic Lotte. "You should be able to answer that question yourself. And if you can't then I can give you my opinion, and all I'm going to say is that you're the only person she's this close with. So I say, go ask her yourself!"

"Sounds like a good idea." Agreed an exasperated Sucy.

"A-ask her!? ME? NOW?"

"Well it's almost time for your tutor session right? I say go for it."

* * *

 _I felt all ready and hyped up to go when I left my room, but now that I'm here there's no way I'll be able to do it! What if I'm wrong? What if she really doesn't feel the same way too? Where is she anyway she's usually here before me… Maybe she found out and is avoiding me! No she can't, how could she know? Though it is Diana with her nothing's possible, except maybe her not being able to do something. No! Come on Atsuko Kagari! You're overthinking things. Remember what Sucy said, thinking isn't your strong suit, actions are! So don't think, don't think, think… think about what again? Oh right, Diana. That's right don't think about her, don't think about her lovely blue eyes, or her soft skin, or beautiful hair or face, or lips. She smells nice. In fact really nice. Man, what's that smell is that her? That's her scent, but if I can smell her right now then…_

"Akko!"

"I wasn't thinking anything weird like you smell nice or anything!"

"What on earth are you on about?" The owner of that chime-like voice, and the source of the fragrance that had overtaken Akko's mind and senses, was none other than the target of her recently-realised affections, Diana.

"Oh, D-Diana. Didn't see you there. You shouldn't sneak up on people you know. It's bad manners."

"I don't want to hear anything about poor manners from you, anyway I apologise for my tardiness. Mrs Finnelane required my assistance for a small matter. Shall we begin?"

"Oh, right. No problem. Let's go! I've never been this ready before!"

"Good. Now then, if you recall correctly last time we…"

 _She's so beautiful._

Diana was the quintessential portrait of refined beauty. From the tip of her slightly turned up nose, to the arch of her meticulous brow. Her wondrously curly hair, so unique to her image, seemed to look like a waterfall of platinum blonde, cascading down her face's delicate frame. Most of all though it was her eyes, her wondrously cool icy blue eyes that when on you, seemed to always see right into you.

Akko found Diana absolutely intoxicating. The romantic subtle light of twilight did nothing but help accentuate the Cavendish's splendidness. For the first time, Akko understood what it meant to be speechless.

"Diana."

* * *

 **A/N:** **It's been a while and the chapter was short. You can attribute the delay to a combination of Fire Emblem, work and life getting in the way of life.**

 **As always thank you for reading and sticking through with me for this far, I'd say we still have a lot left to see. And that these two get better and better. Recently I've seen a real flood of pictures involving these two and it is the nourishment of my soul.**

 **Whilst I lack artistic sense, I hope this chapter and the story in general was able to nourish your soul.**

 **Let me know what you think!**

 **-R2Legt4You**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:  
** **Witch's Dilemna**

Carpe Diem. It was a phrase Akko had read in a book, asked Chariot about, and took immediately to heart. Seize the day! On top of conjuring up images of knights and kings sitting around a round table, the message of living each day to its fullest is one she adored. She aspired to make every day worthwhile and memorable, to make use of every opportunity for adventure she could. As such she tried to live her life as one without regrets.

Invade an ancient dragon's lair? No problem. Go on a quest to save her friends from a disease where they all turn into moss? All done. Constantly put herself in danger for no apparent reason? As simple as breathing really. There weren't many things Akko regretted doing, whether this be because she was too busy moving onto the next major event of her life, or because she couldn't care to worry about what's passed wasn't certain. What was certain was that the bubbly and cheerful go-getter was now unexpectedly experiencing an unending torrent of anxiousness, regret and shame.

These crashing waves reached their high tide whenever Akko's eyes were closing for sleep. Her mind would settle and begin a slow replay of the day's most memorable events, and then just when you were about to fade off into dreamland it would get stuck on the one part of your day you wanted to forget. Like a broken record repeating on, and on, and on.

Earlier that day:

"Stupid birds with their stupid flocks and stupid migration or whatever." *sniff* "And Mrs Finnelane with her, _'ooh don't go flying on your brooms today girls, the Pamola birds are migrating. It's going to get chilly.'_ We get it, okay?" *sniff* Birds fly in one big group twice a year because they can't handle the cold." *sniff* "It's not my fault no-one told me that a flock of them would literally bring a blizzard to the school! How's any normal person supposed to know that!?"

This was the monologue of a freezing and snotty-nosed Akko whose ignorance had once again put into motion an unfortunate series of events. Pamola birds were a mythical creature that brought cold weather wherever they went. Akko had decided to sneak in a couple minutes of flying practice despite the warnings, and as her luck would have it she took to the air just as the flock passed through Luna Nova. In fact she was caught right in the middle of the literal flying blizzard. Needless to say with her flying abilities escape wasn't likely, and like plankton being sucked in by a whale, she was consumed by the storm. Of course within the storm she'd almost died, and really it was a miracle she'd got out with only a minor cold to show for it. You'd think most people would try to comfort someone who had faced mortal danger. But no, all it took was one (accidental) destroying of an old (and pretty ugly) statue of some great Witch or other and suddenly you're being punished.

"Stupid birds. Achoo!" Now Akko was slowly taking her ill and shaking body to the West Wing to begin her detention of cleaning up the old storage room. Looking sideways to the window, Akko caught her snotty-nosed reflection and sighed in relief that at least _that person_ wasn't there to see her. She heard the cawing of birds in the distance and flinched. Yup. She was traumatised.

The little and ancient gnome who'd been guiding her stopped all of a sudden and indicated that they'd arrived at their destination. "Here we are young Miss." He declared in a dust-like voice.

Akko spent a moment in confusion as she didn't see a door, or anything that looked like an entrance to a room anywhere. "Uhh, sorry Hector, are you being overworked again? Your dementia usually acts up when you're tired. There's nothing here. Don't tell me I need to speak to your employers again." *sniff*

"Oh that's not the case at all young Miss. You've done enough for us already. The doors right here!" With a dramatic flourish of his hand he stepped out of the way to reveal a door that was even smaller than him, topping out at about two candy bars in height.

"That's a cute little door and all, but in terms of functionality it's useless. There's no way I'd ever fit inside that! I can't even get my head through!"

"Worry not, see it was designed like this because there wasn't enough space for all the junk they had to store here. So they shrunk the room and everything in it down to about a hundredth of its size. Door included. Let me tell you this room used to be as giant as they come, but with magic now it's smaller than me! Oh and all you need to get in is this here ring." Hector the Gnome held up a hand and passed a plain looking wooden ring over to Akko. "Just put that there ring on and you'll shrink down to size! Including anything you're touching. Imagine what a mess it'd be if you're carrying something and all of a sudden you leave the room and boom! It's bigger than you and you're crushed. Horrible way to go. Poor Tony."

As Hector shook his head heavily, Akko gulped at the thought of what had once transpired here. "Thanks…" Eyeing the ring for a moment, Akko decided that the sooner she started, the sooner she'd be done and never have to think about it ever again. She slid the ring on and with an underwhelming effect, shrunk to a size small enough to enter the door. She waved a thanks as Hector and made her way through the magical door.

When Akko passed through the door, it was like she'd entered into a new world, and the sudden feeling of inertia she felt threatened to topple her over. "This place is huge!" She yelled in awe at the absolute shift in scale of her surroundings. As her echo rang throughout the room, Akko examined the endless rows of shelves, cupboards, pots and other miscellanea that littered the room, which was really more the size of a factory. She'd expected this to be a one, maybe two hour job. This however, looked like half a year's worth of work.

"This school has way too much junk!" Akko shook her head at the pure scale of it all, at the veritable skyscrapers of shelves which seemed rise above the ceiling and towards the clouds. Whilst everything was the size it'd usually be, she felt as small inside the room, as she had felt outside it. _Where do I even start?_

At her musings a sudden glint of light caught her eye. Moving towards the glinting object, Akko found a full-body mirror whose carvings and frame looked uncannily familiar. _Where have I seen it before?_ She wondered hands running across the smooth engravings of its frame. Upon touching the mirror, Akko's reflection sprang to life. The sudden movement caused Akko to stumble back and fall in surprise. "Ouch!"

Akko's reflection began to laugh at her expense, infuriating the brunette Witch. In response to Akko's face twisting into rage, the reflection responded with even more vigorous laughter. "Hey! Just who do you think you're laughing at?"

The reflection feigned confusion for a few moments, before smiling mischievously and beckoning Akko closer. Curious (and a little foolish) Akko inched closer to the mirror. At her reflections motions, Akko touched the mirror again. Then her reflection changed and she was met with the face of the person she least wanted to see at that moment. Cold blue eyes were furrowed angrily at her, the shock of seeing Diana's face sent Akko reeling back yet again, much to the mirrors amusement as it then again cracked up and laughed uncontrollably.

"Why you!" Upon gritting her teeth at the mirror, Akko noticed that she felt a little taller all of a sudden. Looking down she didn't see anything immediately different. Though her skin appeared whiter than usual and wait… was that blonde hair in front of her eyes? After a few more moments, and at her reflections exaggerated movements, Akko soon realised she'd been in this situation before.

She was now in Diana's body.

Or a copy of it at least. That's right! This was the mirror that had caused this whole phenomenon last time. That's why it had looked so familiar to Akko. The mirror had transformed Akko into Diana. That's right… Akko was now… Diana. Or at least her body was, which meant…

With slight hesitation, Akko stared at the hands that were both her own yet not. The reflection raised an eyebrow at Akko's actions. _I can't! But, I must!_ Giving in to her urges, Akko placed her hands on her chest and began to feel herself up. Her fingers that were not her own, measured and memorised the contours of the flesh on her body, that was not her own. _Diana's bigger than I am! I'm frustrated but somehow really happy too. This feels nice. Way better than my own._ Unconsciously Akko also ran her hands along her collarbones, admiring them rather thoroughly.

It wasn't long before a big goofy smile plastered itself on her face. Her reflection tried to flee from the mirror, weirded out by the snotty-nosed giggles and lecherous grin of Akko groping Diana's body. Akko leaned forward bringing to attention her newly gained assets. _Wait if I'm Diana right now then does that mean…_

Before she could complete her thought, Akko pulled her clothes away from her body and looked down into chest. Satisfied, Akko nodded. _It's purple_.

"S-Stop what you're doing right this instance, you fiend!" Confused, Akko looked towards the source of the voice to see a blushing, and incredible peeved looking Diana pointing a wand at her.

"Wait, you can speak?" Asked Akko, wondering when the mirror had developed speech. However when Akko turned around, she saw the mirror shaking its head in pity, arms crossed. "Wait… if the mirror's here, but there's a Diana over there… then that means…."

Fast forward to present:

"AAAAAAAH!" Yelled Akko into her pillow, shaking her head furiously. "It's so embarrassing I want to die!" In response to their roommate's flailing about, Sucy and Lotte lit a candle to observe their pained friend.

"What's the matter, Akko?" Lotte had taken up the roll of avid listener to all of Akko's recent plights for the last week or so. Turning around in her bed, the brunette Witch faced her bespectacled friend.

"I'm a terrible person and Diana might hate me now!" She moaned, stuffing her face deeper into her pillow. Her two friend's looked at each other with tiredness in their eyes.

"Diana again, huh? Can't say I'm surprised."

"It feels like ever since Akko's realised how she feels, we've only been taking steps backwards rather than forwards. What a pain." Sucy lay her lazy eye on her hopeless friend, sighing internally. Akko was an open person and rather forward, as such Sucy expected a quick resolution to the issue of Akko and Diana's mutual attraction the moment the brunette party had realised her own feelings. The only thing she could see delaying things was Diana's internal resistance. The truth couldn't have been further from her expectations.

Again, also due to Akko's willingness to share Sucy had heard all about how the real barrier to Diana and Akko's relationship, was Akko herself. In short, when Akko was in love, she became a major dork.

One week ago:

"Diana!"

The Witch whose name had been called spun around, her pale blonde hair floating along like a cloud in the sky. An uncommon sweat began to seep out of Akko's pores as she forced herself to meet Diana's cool blue eyes. She bit her lip. _Oh man, oh man, oh man! I'm really going to do it! Alright, you got this far! Just, just say it Akko!_

"Akko? Are you alright? You seem rather perturbed all of a sudden. Are you unwell? Or perhaps did someone…" Leaving her sentence to trail off as she did, Akko now felt strangled by Diana's hanging sentence. Her mind finally giving up on thought, she blurted out the top thing on her mind.

"You have really sexy collarbones!"

Silence. Curious, Akko who had shut her eyes, slowly lifted a single eyelid to examine Diana's expression. What she found was Diana's face twisted in bewilderment, and embarrassment.

"Excuse me?" Coughed Diana, reflexively raising her hands, whose red-tinged tips acted as a barrier to protect her collarbones from further perusal. It was at this moment that Akko's thick skull had finally deciphered just what she'd said to Diana.

"I-I mean like, you know collarbones are like pretty great in general or at least I think so, I mean I do? Honestly I didn't even know I thought that about them well maybe just yours because they're so nice you know. Wait that's wrong! It's not like I've been checking out your collarbones secretly or anything! Because that would be weird, totally really weird. If I wanted to look at some collarbones I could just look at mine, right?"

Diana looking extremely uncomfortable nodded her head slightly. "I suppose so." Realising that instead of comforting Diana, her words were doing the opposite Akko hurriedly continued.

"Not that I just stare at my collarbone when I can or anything! I much prefer yours in the end, maybe it's because you've got such pale skin so they just really pop at you and so, like… wait please forget I said that alright? I promise I don't have a collarbone fetish!" Her words did not seem to be working.

"Akko…"

"I mean like, your collarbones look like they'd be some super rare ingredient for a really strong potion or something? You know like 'eyes of albino newts', or 'legs of striped frog'. You'd have those and then your collarbone! Ha, ha ha."

At this point Diana's face was hidden, Akko could only guess as to what kind of rage-filled look the prideful and conservative Witch must have been making. Afraid of Diana's explosive anger and full of shame, Akko decided to cut her losses.

So, without any further words.

She ran.

Back to present:

"Just end me please! Sucy! Have you made any progress on that Amnesia potion?" Sucy shook her head.

"Afraid not, I'm having trouble gathering one of the ingredients, you know the one, 'collarbone of a fair maiden', or something like that." Like a volcano, red rose up from Akko's body, from toes to head, ending in a fiery explosion.

"What about cyanide? I hear that's a painless way to go," offered an amused Lotte. The other two parties involved paused, throwing concerned glances at Lotte for her nonchalantly grim suggestion. Noticing her roommates' concern, the freckled girl lifted her hands up. "Sorry, sometimes I get too influenced by the books I read. Remember the princess I though reminded me of Diana? Well she couldn't handle that everyone forbid her from loving a woman, so she committed suicide with cyanide! When Jessamine found her, oh it was so tragic! I was moved to tears, as was Big Ben! This has really been one of the saddest arcs in Night Fall to date."

"Well that's just stupid! Just because people tell you not to do something, doesn't mean you should kill yourself over it! This princess-character should have just run away or something! What cheap drama." Akko argued, fingers curling around her pillow.

"But they were forcing her into an arranged marriage with Baron Bleublanc! Her country was small, and the marriage was needed to protect them from their neighbouring countries, but if she did marry him then she would be unable to Jessamine ever again. To run away would have only assured that her countrymen would die, including Jessamine's family."

"Well what's killing yourself going to change? All that does is leave her country without a princess, not to mention Jessamine all alone and sad."

"Yes, Big Ben said the same. Though Jessamine was held captive! The princess' only joy in life was in danger because of her, I imagine she could no longer stand the pain of this mortal coil! When Jessamine heard that her love had killed herself, she only blamed her own powerlessness. But what could have been done?!"

"Oh so this princess just decides to croak and leave Jessamine wracked with guilt? This princess character is sounding more and more despicable by the minute. She sounds weak! It's like the exact opposite of Diana, she would come up with some sort of plan to be with Jessamine and save her country! Without having to marry some Baron Bluecheese."

"You really think so?" Lotte turned her head, curiosity piqued. Akko caught the transparent reflection of herself in her friends glasses, she looked as angry as she felt.

"Absolutely! After all, though I hate to admit, Diana's pretty i-incredible you know? Like sure she was born into a great family and all, but she works for everything. I thought it was unfair at first for someone like her to be so good at everything, but that's only because when Diana puts her mind to it, she can do anything!"

Shaking with sudden emotion, Akko's once tense body began to loosen as she grabbed hold of her knees. Pressing her chest against them, she mumbled into her legs.

"Unlike me, Diana's incredible. There's no way that someone like her would ever feel that way about someone like me. You know, lately I've been wondering if maybe I was just misreading things with Diana. Maybe I was just looking too deep into certain things, cause she's so nice. I feel like probably, that's the case."

"Akko…" whispered Lotte gently, stroking her friend's hair. "I get that feeling you know, the feeling that maybe you're just not good enough for someone." For just an instant, a moment shorter than a blink, blue met red.

"I can't handle this sappy stuff." An irate voice spoke out, intruding upon the momentary gloom. "Akko look at me." Rather than waiting for her disheartened friend to move, Sucy grabbed a hold of the brunette's ears, forcing them face-to-face. "Don't let those tears fall you hear me? I see them there in the corners of your eyes. Suckh them up. Along with all that disgusting snot."

"But Sucyyy," moaned Akko.

"No buts! Suck it up! You're hard to look at right now! If I was Diana I surely wouldn't want to see your face right now." Inspired by her words, Akko steeled her face. Ungracefully she tightened her face and with a sticky noise sniffed back as much trailing mucus as she could muster. "That's it. And the tears?" Nodding, Akko brought her wrist to wipe away the moisture surrounding her eyes. Along the way her forearms collected what was left of the mucus on her face. After her unceremonious clean-up, the brunette Witch shook her head, casting aside the last of her negative thoughts.

"All gone!" Akko responded with a shaky, yet resolute voice.

"Listen up, Akko. I'm only going to say this once. You may not be as naturally talented as some people, but never forget that you're still amazing. I only get to have half as much fun as I do because you're around. The same is true for Lotte, Constanze, Amanda, Jasminka, Chariot. Even Diana. That's the case for everyone alright, so brighten up already and stop thinking so much. I know it may be unfair but, when you're this sad, I can't help but feel there's something wrong with the world."

"I agree with Sucy! Akko, I'm sure everyone else does too. You're special because of the way you always follow your heart so confidently. We love that about you!"

"Y-You guys…"

"Oh boy, here come the waterworks."

Despite her previous attempts to regain her composure, Akko now began to cry in earnest. Although, these were happy tears.

"Alright, I've got a plan! I'm going to ask Diana to be my date for the Winter Ball!" Lotte and Sucy both looked at each other quizzically.

"What ball?"

* * *

"Ah, miss Chariot." Called out Diana, "I've already informed the proper Magistrate that we would be slightly delayed in our arrival. It seems the winds do not favour us in their directions."

"Oh! You're already here, Diana. AH! I mean, sorry for the delay, and thank you so much for fixing things." Responded a slightly flustered Chariot. She looked up to the sky and sighed at the unfortunate situation. The Pamola bird migration had ruined their original travel plans and ensured that it would be a chilly ride to their destination. Not to mention they were leaving just past six in the evening, if things went right for them, they might reach the Ministry at eight. The moons guiding rays were also being blocked by clouds, ensuring that this journey would be quite the ordeal. Still, Chariot's being shook in anticipation. "Well let's not delay things any further then, shall we be off?"

With a curt nod, Diana handed Chariot the other lantern which she'd been carrying. She watched as her teacher affixed it to the tip of her broom. Satisfied with her handiwork, Chariot passed the broom back to Diana. Once Diana had mounted the broom, Chariot followed suit, making sure to grip tightly around Diana's waist. "Ah, I really miss being able to fly" Muttered Chariot, "Thanks again for this, Diana." The platinum blonde Witch merely nodded, before finally taking off into the sky. The student and teacher were silent for the first leg of their journey, both waiting until Luna Nova had been swallowed by the horizon before speaking.

"I must say, Diana. I should have expected that when the principal told me that a student was joining me for my visit, she meant you. If you don't mind, I'm rather curious as to why you also need to visit the Ministry. It's quite the journey on broom, and we won't be back till at least midnight."

Glancing at Chariot behind her, Diana spoke. "It's nothing quite as interesting as your reason I'm afraid. Just a few minor administrative issues I need to sort out regarding my family's estate. I asked the principal for leave to do so, and she recommended I join you. Also saying that it would put her mind at ease were I to go with you."

"Ah, I see. Well I'll try to be done before you so that you're not left waiting too long."

With a small smile, Diana shook her head. "Please don't cut short your visit for my sake. I'm in no hurry I assure you. Please, enjoy yourself."

Smiling in return, Chariot laughed. "I know this may be inappropriate for me to say, but when it comes to you Diana, I sometimes forget who's the teacher is and who's the student. Speaking of which, you wouldn't happen to know what's wrong with Akko, would you? She's been awfully quiet recently, not to mention distracted."

"W-with Akko? I'm afraid I haven't a clue. Though it's odd to hear you say she's been quiet, during my lesson with her she's been dreadfully skittish, and often yells in shock. I agree on the distracted front however. Not to mention the other day she…. N-never mind."

"Hm?" It was difficult to tell with only the light from their shaking lanterns illuminating their surroundings, but Chariot thought Diana's face was a crimson that could rival the shade of her hair. She was unsure whether to chalk it up to cold from the chopping wind, or something else. "Did something happen between you two?"

At the question, Diana remembered just about everything that had transpired this week, from collarbones to witnessing Akko looking down her shirt (whilst in Diana's body). Diana fiercely shook her head. "Nothing at all happened!"

 _So something did happen,_ reasoned Chariot immediately. Deciding that it wasn't her place to press further however, Chariot feigned ignorance. "Is that so? Well, I just hope that she sorts out whatever's wrong and regains her focus soon. It's rather odd seeing Akko so subdued."

"Subdued, you say? Yes, odd." Around Diana, this week Akko had been anything but subdued. Frantic, loud, and embarrassing was closer to the mark. This new spark of information left Diana quiet and ruminative for the rest of the journey, wondering why there seemed to be such disillusion surrounding Akko. Ever since her confrontation with Sucy, Diana had been trying to keep her distance from Akko. Deciding that it was better for the both of them. She held back from touching Akko, stopped herself when her eyes began to stray too far and made sure to be very careful with her words. There were even times Diana had been down right dismissive towards Akko.

Diana had expected some kind of traction from Akko, some resistance to an increased distance in their relationship. Yet there was none, it was as if Akko hadn't even realised what it was Diana was trying to do, or perhaps Akko simply didn't care. Had Diana fooled herself? Did she think she was a more importance presence to Akko than was actually the case? Perhaps that was the reason Akko ran away the other day, all after a little teasing at Diana's expense. Not to mention what she'd witnessed earlier today, was Akko trying to get back at Diana? Did watching Sucy's video creep her out? Did Diana creep her out?

 _I need to stop thinking like this, Akko isn't like that at all._

In all likelihood, Akko was just bored of Diana and wanted to get back to her own crazy shenanigans without Diana's constant disapproval hanging around her.

 _I wonder, am I a fun person?_

The answer to that question was painfully obvious to Diana. She wasn't as brash or as funny as Amanda, not as eccentric and enigmatic as Constanze. She couldn't bake or cook like Jasminka, she wasn't easy to talk to and get excited with as Lotte, and she certainly couldn't hope to be as mysterious as Sucy.

 _Is Akko just bored with me then?_

Diana should be happy with that fact. It should be easier than for her to break away from Akko and end any rumours that may be circulating about the two. She should be happy. Instead however, she felt hurt, and that hurt made her frustrated, and that frustration led to impatience. She needed to start the next chapter of her life, before it all overwhelmed her.

* * *

"Hey, miss ruminative! We're here!" Called Chariot to her travel companion. She gave Diana a once over, the young girls brow was furrowed in deep thought. "If you keep your face like that you're going to get wrinkles."

"Eh?" Muttered Diana, relaxing her features in fear that wrinkles just may develop. Before she could respond however the two Witches were waved down by an official whose uniform was a mix of modern practicality and tradition. Diana handed over her broom and received a slip in return.

"Hold onto that. Otherwise getting your broom back can be a real mess of paperwork. That's bureaucracy for you though." Taking Chariot's words to mind, Diana nodded. "Well then, I'll be off to visit the Detention Centre near here. I'm sure I don't have to warn you but make sure you don't get into any trouble." With a wave of her hand, Chariot left Diana to her own devices. She made haste to her destination, with hurried steps.

 _Oh, maybe I should have offered to help more. Though she's been here before and I doubt she needs it. Besides…._ Chariot came to a stop, and waved at the Ministry official behind the glass window. Now recognising her by face, the official immediately rung up the required number. Receiving the all clear, Chariot waited for the magical barrier in front of her to dissipate before entering the opposing room. She reached her hand into a bowl of crystals and procured a shining white gem. She inserted the crystal into a slot within the dark brown door before her. Once it seemed everything was in place she spoke.

"Croix Meridies."

The crystal sunk within the door, which then shimmered as if a stone had been cast into a pond. Once the door's ripples ceased, Chariot turned the door knob and entered. The room's only occupant was buried within a mass of research notes. Hand on chin and mind deeply considering some magical phenomena or other, Croix Meridies, with cool lilac hair cut a striking figure.

"Chariot?" Roused from her contemplation, Croix's teal eyes lit up when she noticed her visitor. She got up from her chair and embraced Chariot. "It's been too long since I've seen you. Why the odd visiting time? I'm sure visiting hours are over, and I certainly don't see them bending the rules for a wicked Witch like me."

"Let's just say I had to resort to some bribing by ways of signing some things for Chairman's kids. Shiny Chariot's name still carries a lot of weight in some circles."

"Is that so, how marvellous. Though I still would've liked some warning. I would liked to have spruced the place up a bit."

"Please, this place is spotless as is."

Croix chuckled pleasantly. "The room yes, still I'd prefer I'd had some time to spruce myself up as well. I just haven't been able to maintain my hair at all, it's such a mess these days. And they won't give me the shampoo I keep requesting, nor any other hair products. I swear they're afraid I'm going to make a bomb or something."

"Could you do it?"

Croix smiled slyly, "Maybe." The two of them both laughed at the small joke. With how easy it was to talk to each other now, Chariot struggled to recall just how stale conversation had been between the two of them when she'd first visited. However, over the course of the last several months the two of them had mended their relationship almost completely. Croix had finally spoken to Chariot of the jealousy she'd held towards Chariot for being chosen by the Shiny Rod. None of which mattered of course to Chariot, who was just glad to have her friend back.

"Sorry." Croix's serious tone cut the laughter between the two of them short. She reached her hands up towards the redhead's cheek. "I'm so sorry for everything I did."

Cupping her face further into Croix's gentle hand, Chariot spoke. "How many times have I told you that the past is the past? Just look towards the future now, look towards the brightness to come."

"Ah, ever the optimist Chariot. You're too nice still. But I'll take your words to heart and look towards my bright future! In this cell."

"And you're far too pessimistic. My visit today is about that actually, your future that is." Breaking apart from Croix, the redhead removed her hat. She reached deep within it and procured a number of files, pages and black-and-white forms. The very symbols of bureaucracy. "Thanks to the principal's pressuring on my behalf, as well as the signed approval of man of the other teachers at Luna Nova, we've been able to press for a lighter sentence for you. Whilst you were at Luna Nova, you really were a great teacher. And so under the condition that you once-again become a teacher at Luna Nova, as well as that you're constantly monitored, you'll be able to leave your little room here and come live at Luna Nova again. Th-though you'll have to share a room with me, if that's fine."

Croix blinked several times at Chariot, unbelieving at the terms presented to her. Taking Croix's silence as negative confirmation, Chariot hurriedly continued. "I mean, aren't these condition pretty good? I'm sure you enjoyed the teaching at least a little bit? And the surveillance won't be that bad just a couple weekly reports and about the sharing rooms thing, I mean I just volunteered for it, but if you'd prefer someone else then. Ow!" Croix's hand had met Chariot's skull in a righteous chop, interrupting the woman's ramblings.

"Who said that was the part I had an issue with?" Rubbing her head, Chariot looked up with one eye.

"So, that's not the problem?"

Croix shook her head. "Honestly it just sounds too good to be true. After everything I've done, I didn't expect this, at all. Though I wonder, will the student's really want me back? I can't imagine them being at ease with me around again."

"You worry too much, Croix! They'll probably be surprised at first but they'll get used to it. You're very popular, you know? Even now the kids still miss you. In many ways, you're quite the role model to them."

"Still, I put a lot of them in danger. Especially Akko, Diana and the bunch. The whole missile crisis was all my fault after all. Because of Wagandea you can't fly anymore! And as much as I hate to admit it I'm no closer to finding a cure and, it's all my fault."

"Croix we've spoken about this before, nobody cares about any of that anymore. They see what a kind person you really are, and I've always known."

"I just, I'm sorry. This all sounds too good to be true."

Reaching out, Chariot intertwined her fingers with Croix's. The soft sensation of their skin sliding together left tingles running up her spine. "What's wrong with that? You know Croix I, I know this may be selfish but I really want you to come and live with me at Luna Nova. I can't help feeling there's so much we need to make up for. So, stop holding back, okay?"

Croix's breath caught in her throat, she could feel her chest tighten, like a hand was slowly curling its way around her heart. She met Chariot's crimson eyes, and let her emotions lead her just this once. She shut her brain off.

"Fine. Where do I sign?"

The smile on Chariot's face extended from ear to ear. It was dazzling.

* * *

"So," began Croix as she settled down, preparing to make headway into the mountain of forms before her. "How did you get here today anyway? I don't see any of the other teachers carrying you on their brooms at this time of night." Flipping over the page, Chariot pointed to when Croix needed to sign.

"Actually Diana was the one who carried me. She has some business here."

"Oh really," Croix glanced at the form, confirming some minor details. "Speaking of Diana, how's Akko doing? You still tutoring her?"

"Yep. Although admittedly for the past week or so she's beginning to slip again. She's been very distracted."

"Is there a reason?"

"Well, if I had to hazard a guess. It's probably Diana."

"And we're back to her. You told me they were getting along well though. Has that changed?"

"Well…" Chariot told Croix of her suspicions regarding the two of them and their feelings for each other. She also mentioned how Diana also seemed off, especially on the broom ride here. Once Chariot had finished speaking, the lilac haired beauty smiled mischievously.

"Is that so? Well it sounds to me like our two little lovebirds are having trouble. You know, those two, don't they kind of remind you of us?"

Chariot angled her eyes, "How so?"

"Well you know, the personality connections are there for sure. Akko is as bright and cheery as you were. Not to mention clumsy. Diana definitely seems to have my smarts, though she seems to have a better head on her shoulders. Then of course there's the whole blossoming love between the two!"

"I see where you're coming from. But I don't remember any 'blossoming love' in our days."

"Oh really?" Remarked Croix nonchalantly. "I must be mistaken then, though somehow I doubt that. I wish you were as cute and honest now as you were back then."

"Hey!"

Croix snickered at Chariot's reaction. Turning over the page to sign in the next spot though her face grew serious again. "I'd like it if those two didn't make the same mistakes we did. If Diana's even half as similar to me as I think, then she's going to become a real idiot soon. She's probably overthinking things, coming up with excuses here and there. Making herself ignorant. She won't see what's really important until she's lost it. And she'll only have her own foolishness to blame."

"I'm worried too." Both women shook their heads, aware that overlapping feelings could overlap yet fly straight past each other.

"Well! That'll be something I can help prevent once I'm a teacher! After all, it'll be my duty to look for what's best for them."

"Croix…" In an odd swap of position, Chariot found herself cheered up by Croix's infectious enthusiasm. "Exactly! As teachers we'll look after our students, together!"

It was at this moment Chariot experienced a soft unfamiliar sensation on her lips. Closeness of body, breaths intermingling, and eyes closed. For a moment that felt like paradise, the redhead revelled in the unexpected and unexpectedly sweet kiss.

"I'm looking forward to working together," said Croix in a low, husky voice. "We've got a lot of time to make up for, isn't that right?"

* * *

 **A/N: This was satisfying to see unfold.**

 **Did this chapter take exactly one month? Yes it did. Was that too long? I definitely feel like that was the case. To that thank sickness, exams and Trails of Cold Steel. So enjoy a longer than usual chapter and expect more DiaAkko in the next chapter.**

 **Till next time – R2Legit4You**


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